Mumbai, February 12
With the player auction for the Women’s Premier League (WPL) set to take place here tomorrow, women’s cricket is poised for a big leap forward and the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Shafali Verma are likely to hit the jackpot.
The big-hitting Richa Ghosh and seamer Renuka Thakur will also excite interest among the bidders
Among the overseas players, Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Nat Sciver, Megan Schutt and Deandra Dottin are among the big stars expected to enjoy a big payday.
The five teams — Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, RCB, Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz — will be bidding to buy 90 players from a list of 409.
With a salary purse of Rs 12 crore per team and a squad size of 18, including six overseas players, at least 20 of the 60 Indian women set to be picked up will command a good price.
The base prices are set in five brackets, the least being Rs 10 lakh and the highest Rs 50 lakh. The other brackets are Rs 20 lakh, Rs 30 lakh and Rs 40 lakh. It is expected that members of the current Indian team and those from Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa will be the most sought after players at the auction.
Big money
Officials associated with the franchises have indicated that Smriti, Shafali, Harmanpreet and all-rounder Deepti Sharma are expected to earn between Rs 1.25 and Rs 2 crore from the teams that successfully bid for them.
The big-hitting Richa Ghosh and seamer Renuka Thakur will also excite interest among the bidders, as will spinners like Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Radha Yadav, and seamers Meghana Singh and Shikha Pandey. Jemimah Rodrigues, who has had a good run in foreign T20 leagues, could also be a big earner during the auction.
Uncapped
In the uncapped Indian players’ category, Jammu and Kashmir’s Jasia Akhtar and Railways’ Swagatika Rath are among the prominent names expected to get significantly richer by the end of the auction. Among the U-19 T20 World Cup-winning women’s team, batter Shweta Sehrawat, spinners Parshavi Chopra, Mannat Kashyap and Archana Devi, and seamer Titas Sadhu are expected to attract good bids.
The five franchises will look at potential captains and, apart from Smriti and Harmanpreet, the prominent captaincy candidates are Australia’s Meg Lanning, England skipper Heather Knight and New Zealand’s Sophie Devine.
Delhi Capitals head coach Jonathan Batty said, “We are very excited about the WPL auction. We have worked on our strategy for the auction. We have a lot of people who have worked on numerous IPL auctions.” — PTI
Key Figures for Auction
Minimum Salary purse per team: Rs 9 crore
Teams: DC, MI, RCB, Gujarat Giants, UP Warriorz
Minimum Squad Strength: 15
Maximum Squad Strength: 18
Maximum Indian players in squad: 12
Maximum Overseas players per squad: 6
Foreign players available from Full Members: 155
Players from Associate Nations: 8
Name of auctioneer: Mallika Sagar
Rs 12cr maximum salary purse per team
409 Total number of players available
246 Total Indian players available
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