WPL 2023, player auction as it happened: Smriti Mandhana fetches top bid; Harmanpreet Kaur to MI

Final list of players recruited:

Final count: 87 – Players signed, 30 of them Overseas Players, Rs 59,50,00,000 Total Spent

And that will be all, five teams have either filled up their max slots or exhausted the purse:

Delhi Capitals: Funds Remaining Rs 35,00,000, Overseas Players 6, Total Players 18   

Gujarat Giants: Funds Remaining Rs 5,00,000, Overseas Players 6, Total Players 18  

Mumbai Indians: Funds Remaining 0, Overseas Players 6, Total Players 17

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Funds Remaining Rs 10,00,000, Overseas Players 6, Total Players 18   

UP Warriorz: Funds Remaining 0, Overseas Players 6, Total Players 16

Accelerated auction-3:

Neelam Bisht goes to MI for Rs 10 Lakh

Jintimani Kalita goes to MI for INR 10 Lakh

Sahana Pawar goes to RCB for INR 10 Lakh 

Accelerated auction-3: Shabnam Shakil, one of the U19 players, goes to Gujarat Giants. Sonam Yadav goes to MI for Rs 10 lakh.

Accelerated auction-3: Megan Schutt goes to RCB for Rs 40 Lakh. A high quality final overseas pick.

Accelerated auction-2: Final picks coming up.

Accelerated auction-2: Three teams can still look to sign up players. RCB have two slots and Rs 30 lakh, MI need one more for their minimum itself. There is one more mini bidding phase coming up after a break

Accelerated auction-2: Priyanka Bala to MI for Rs 20 lakh. We might have one more round of bidding for three teams.

Accelerated auction-2:

Komal Zanzad goes to RCB for INR 25 Lakh

Parunika Sisodia goes to Gujarat Giants for INR 10 Lakh 

Accelerated auction-2: Delhi capitals are done with their slots, UP Warriorz are done with their budget. They can put the paddles away.

Accelerated auction-2: We are now seriously starting to wonder if no one wants Laura Wolvaardt.

Poonam Khemnar to RCB for INR 10 Lakh 

Humairaa Kaazi  to MI for INR 10 Lakh

Accelerated auction-2:

Dane van Niekerk goes to RCB for INR 30 Lakh

Chloe Tryon goes for INR 30 Lakh to MI 

Preeti Bose goes to RCB for INR 30 Lakh

Arundhati Reddy goes to Delhi for INR 30 Lakh 

Simran Shaikh goes to Warriorz for INR 10 Lakh 

Apart Mondal goes to Delhi for INR 10 Lakh 

Accelerated auction-2: Swagatika Rath goes unsold... or is she? The base price of Rs 30 lakh perhaps going against her. GG thought about it but no.

Accelerated auction-2: Sneha Deepthi will have a team! That’s a great story potentially. Goes to DC for Rs 30 lakh.

Accelerated auction-2:

Poonam Yadav goes to Delhi Capitals for Rs 30 Lakh

Jess Jonassen goes to Delhi Capitals for Rs 50 Lakh 

Hurley Gala goes to Gujarat Giants for Rs 10 lakh

Accelerated auction-2: Alana King is UNSOLD, that’s a big surprise end of the day. But we have seen this before in the men’s IPL too where overseas spinners are not exactly hot property.

Accelerated auction-2: Sushma Verma goes to Gujarat Giants for Rs 60 Lakh

Accelerated auction-2: Wicket-keeper Taniyaa Bhatia goes to Delhi Capitals for Rs 30 Lakh.

Accelerated auction-2:

Hayley Matthews goes to MI for Rs 40 lakh.

Suzie Bates goes unsold, that’s a bit disappointing. 

Heather Knight, who is on the field currently for England, goes to RCB for Rs 40 lakh

Here we go then, the last phase of auction

GG’s Nooshin Al Khadeer: We spend a lot of time at the domestic level, we do understand there is depth at the domestic level, so it was important to pick the right international talent early on. We are happy with the balance, and the combination. We want to finish the auction to decide who will lead the side.

Purse remaining: Remember, there are some big names still left. MI and RCB have slots to fill, and RCB have good purse remaining too.

Gujarat Giants: Re, the tweet below. Exactly what I was thinking when Abhinav Mukund was worried about the lack of Indian buys in the GG camp early on. That would have presumably not been a concern for a table with Mithali-Nooshin.

Meanwhile in South Africa.

Delhi Capitals: Funds Remaining Rs 2,15,00,000, Overseas Players 5, Total Players 12  

Gujarat Giants: Funds Remaining Rs 1,30,00,000, Overseas Players 6, Total Players 13  

Mumbai Indians Funds Remaining Rs 1,30,00,000, Overseas Players 4, Total Players 10  

Royal Challengers Bangalore Funds Remaining Rs 1,95,00,000, Overseas Players 3, Total Players 11 

UP Warriorz Funds Remaining Rs 10,00,000, Overseas Players 6, Total Players 15

Accelerated auction-1: Asha Shobana to RCB for INR 10 Lakh, Saika Ishaque goes to MI for INR 10 Lakh.

Accelerated auction-1: Tanuja Kanwer next, and no surprises, goes to GG for Rs 50 lakh.

Accelerated auction-1: Kanika Ahuja goes to RCB for 35 Lakh. Had to bid with MI.

Accelerated auction-1: Shreyanka Patil adds some local flavour to RCB at Rs 10 lakh.

Accelerated auction-1: Minnu Mani, Kerala’s impressive young allrounder, goes to Delhi Capitals for Rs 30 lakh.

Accelerated auction-1:

Dhara Gujjar goes to MI at INR 10 Lakh 

Laura Harris goes to DC for INR 45 Lakh (wonderful power-hitting pick)

Jasia Akhter goes to DC for INR 20 Lakh  (Great pick from the domestic circuit)

Disha Kasat goes to RCB for INR 10 Lakh (See above)

Laxmi Yadav goes to UPW for INR 10 Lakh 

Indrani Roy goes to RCB for INR 10 Lakh 

Accelerated auction-1: USA’s Țara Norris goes to DelhiCapitals for INR 10 Lakh

Accelerated auction-1: Lauren Bell with a base price of INR 30 Lakh. And UP have just Rs 20 lakh remaining, with 14 slots filled. Monica Patel goes to Gujarat Giants at INR 30 Lakh. Mahika Gaur (UAE), Ekta Bisht and Preeti Bose are UNSOLD

Accelerated auction-1: D Hemalatha goes to, no surprise, GG for Rs 30 lakhs. Meghna Singh, Arundhati Reddy, Swagatika Rath are unsold.

Accelerated auction-1: Amanjot Kaur goes to MI for Rs 50 lakh. She joins Harmanpreet Kaur and Co at Mumbai Indians. Lovely timing for her to get that India cap recently in the tri-series and show what she was capable of.

Accelerated auction-1: Oh wow, UPW go big and splurge Rs 1.40 crore for Devika Vaidya. DC pull out at the last moment. UPW have 50L remaining and have at least two more slots to fill.

Accelerated auction-1: Devika Vaidya getting bids, unsurprisingly. DC and UPW at it.

Accelerated auction-1: GG are of course picking up quick bids from the domestic base. Mansi Joshi for Rs 30 lakh. Simran Bahadur surprisingly finds no takers, a great all-round option. Hopefully gets a bid later. No bid for Anuja Patil.

Accelerated auction-1: Youth is the name of the game at DC. They get Alice Capsey for a great deal at Rs 75 lakhs. MI were interested, but they do get Issy Wong for Rs 30 lakh. Edwards is happy.

Accelerated auction-1: Georgia Wareham goes to Gujarat Giants for Rs 75 Lakh. Katherine Sciver-Brunt is unsold.

Accelerated auction-1: Of course Grace Harris was more than just going to “Watch all the games”. UP have a great pick at RS 75 Lakhs.

Accelerated auction-1: Grace Harris time. RCB were in for her but now it seems to DC and UPW. This is a potential steal.

Accelerated auction-1:

Erin Burns goes to RCB for Rs 30 Lakh

Bharti Fulmali and Kim Garth go unsold

Heather Graham to MI for Rs 30 lakh (Solid addition!)

Accelerated auction-1: Kiran Navgire to UPW for Rs 30 lakhs, S Meghana to GG for Rs 30 lakhs. Two good picks.

Accelerated auction-1: Here we go again. Sneha Deepthi, Priya Punia go unsold.

Delhi Capitals: Funds Remaining Rs 3,95,00,000, Overseas Players 2, Total Players 7  

Gujarat Giants: Funds Remaining Rs 3,75,00,000, Overseas Players 5, Total Players 7 

Mumbai Indians: Funds Remaining Rs 2,60,00,000, Overseas Players 2, Total Players 5  

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Funds Remaining Rs 3,00,00,000, Overseas Players 2, Total Players 5  

UP Warriorz: Funds Remaining Rs 2,95,00,000, Overseas Players 4, Total Players 10

Smriti Mandhana was picked up by RCB for Rs 3.4 crores: “I think it’s been over last ten years we’ve been watching auctions for men and it was just amazing because I’m always glued to auctions of men whenever they used to happen. It’s such a big moment for women’s cricket too for us to have an auction of this sort. I think this is history, firstly the announcement of WPL and then this auction. I think the whole thing is exciting and I’m saying it’s exciting time ahead. I think the legacy of RCB is way high because this franchise is existing from past 10 years for men’s IPL and they have built a huge fan base. So, yeah, really excited to be part of such a big franchise and I hope that we both can together build a great team. I think I’m really excited to be the part of RCB. “Namaskara Bengaluru”, I think that’s how they say and also excited about wearing the red colour and going out there and trying to get the cup. All the fans keep supporting us and we will try and have a great tournament.”

— JioCinema

Watch, WPL: As Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Co get huge bids, reactions in the Indian camp

Harmanpreet Kaur who was signed for Rs 1.8 crores from Mumbai Indians: “I have always seen Mumbai Indians do well in the IPL and now I also have a chance to be part of the Mumbai Indians team and I hope we will make a good team. It’s a gamechanger for all of us because we are going to experience this kind of pressure for the first time. I am very excited and at the same time this will entirely change women’s cricket not only in India but world cricket too. It’s a great initiative and we are looking forward to that. We all are coming to Mumbai and hope we will get all the support from Mumbai Indians. MI fans have always been very great and like how MI men have been doing, we would like to contribute the same way. “

— JioCinema

Really wonderful reactions in the Indian camp so far:

Assessment: Early days, UP Warriorz have put together a solid unit. Healy and Sehrawat opening. Three gun bowlers in Ismail, Deepti and Ecclestone. A superb allrounder in McGrath. Anjali providing a rare left-arm option, Chopra’s wrist-spin. The experience of Gayakwad too.

45-minute break: It will be all accelerated bidding after this. But we still have a long way to go, with only 34 players signed up overall so far.

Emerging players-2 set: What we are seeing now is the effect of having just 5 teams. Surely one more team, and more of these young Indian players (and so many more domestic talent) will be getting at least base bids. S. Yashasri goes to UPW for Rs 10 lakh.

Emerging players-2 set: Shalot unsold.

Emerging players-2 set: Falak Naz, Soniya Mendhiya unsold.

Emerging players-2 set: Najla C M C, Sonam Yadav, Shabnam Shakil are unsold

Emerging players-2 set: More U19 players next. Surely Mithali-Nooshin will be interested in some of these names or from the first set later.

Emerging players-1 set: India’s Shweta Sehrawat was in a league of her own during the U19 World Cup. She has now been picked up by UP Warriorz for Rs 40 lakh.

Emerging players-1 set: Titas Sadhu, player of the U19 final, goes to DC for Rs 25 lakh.

Emerging players-1 set: G Trisha time. No bid from Mithali Raj... surprised.

Emerging players-1 set: Player of the U19 World Cup, Grace Scrivens has no takers. No takers for Archana Devi too.

Emerging players 1 set: Parshavi Chopra, India’s leading wicket-taker in the U19 campaign, and she goes to UP Warriorz.

Emerging players 1 set: Thought Nooshin’s Giants would be busy in this set, but apparently not. Two unsold Indians so far. Parshavi Chopra next.

Emerging players 1 set: Hrishita Basu unsold. Tiwari next.

Allrounders-2 set: Marizanne Kapp time. Perhaps one of the last big-money bids we will see. We are upto Rs 1 crore. DC vs RB then GG come in.

Allrounders-2 set: Mithali-Nooshin get Sneh Rana! The Railways allrounder is reunited with her team sort of. She goes for Rs 75 lakh.

Delhi Capitals looking solid.

Jemimah Rodrigues
Shafali Verma
Meg Lanning
Radha Yadav
Shikha Pandey

#WPL2023 #WPLAuction 

Allrounders-2 set: Shikha Pandey next and DC vs GG for this.

Allrounders-2 set: Jess Jonassen is a rare Australian first-team player unsold so far.

Allrounders-2 set: South Africa all-rounder Nadine De Klerk, Bangladesh’s Salma Khatun are unsold

Allrounders-2 set: Radha Yadav to DC for Rs 40 lakh.

Allrounders-2 set: Radha Yadav should definitely have takers. DC and GG should be going for her, I imagine, DC open the bidding.

Allrounders-2 set: Kasperek is first up, not sold.

Gujarat Giants: While they have gone heavy on overseas so far, they have Mithali Raj and Nooshin Al Khadeer in the table, who probably know more than most about Indian domestic talent.

Purse remaining

DC -Rs 6.7 crore
GG - Rs 4.5 crore
MI - Rs 2.6 crore
RCB - Rs 3 crore
UPW - Rs 3.55 crore

Break for 15 minutes: Here’s a look at the players who have been signed up so far:

Spinners-1 set: Afy Fletcher, Fran Jonas are unsold. Franchises clearly saving money for now.

Spinners-1 set: No bids for Ranaweera and King, the latter definitely a surprise.

Spinners-1 set: No takers for Mlaba. Next up Poonam Yadav, who is surprisingly unsold.

Spinners-1 set: Sarah Glenn’s prolific middle-overs wicket-taking is not enough for a bid for now. Rajeshwari Gayakwad now, goes to UPW for Rs 40 lakh.

Fast bowlers-1 set: Not many takers in this set but could come back for a Schutt etc later.

Fast bowlers-1 set: Megan Schutt, Jahanara Alam, Lea Tahuhu go unsold.

Fast bowlers-1 set: DC join UPW and GG for Anjali. DC pull out quickly though. UP get the left-arm pacer Anjali Sarvani for Rs 55 lakh.

Fast bowlers-1 set: Nooshin and Mithali open the bidding for Anjali, no surprises there.

Fast bowlers-1 set: Connell and Davies unsold. Anjali Sarvani next, should get some interest.

Wicketkeepers-1 set: Amy Jones unsold (for now) and Alyssa Healy for Rs 70 lakh while Yastika Bhatia for Rs 1.6 crore in the same set. Can’t say I am surprised, but just one of those auction things. The overseas unsold list is already quite something.

Wicketkeepers-1 set: Alyssa Healy to UP Warriorz for a steal at Rs 70 lakh.

Wicketkeepers-1 set: Plenty of deliberation at the UP table but no bid. RCB get Richa Ghosh for Rs 1.9 crore, big fist-pump there.

Wicketkeepers-1 set: OK RCB might actually be serious here. They have gone till Rs 1.9 crore and DC have pulled out.

Wicketkeepers-1 set: Richa Ghosh time. Surely more than Rs 2 crore? RCB and DC going big... but surely RCB are just driving this up.

Wicketkeepers-1 set: Mumbai Indians get Yastika Bhatia for Rs 1.5 crore. Could have waited perhaps for Richa and Healy still in this set?

Wicketkeepers-1 set: Gujarat and Mumbai going for Yastika Bhatia. UP come in late.

Wicketkeepers-1 set: Taniyaa Bhatia and Anushka Sanjeewani are unsold in the wicketkeepers set. Yastika Bhatia up next.

Allrounders-1 set: Deandra Dottin, world boss, goes to Gujarat Giants for Rs 60 lakh. Haynes-Raj-Nooshin going quite well so far overall.

Allrounders-1 set: Pooja Vastrakar goes to MI for Rs 1.90 crore. Nat Sciver and Pooja in the same team, also with A Kerr and H Kaur.

Allrounders-1 set: Pooja Vastrakar time. MI and DC going busy at the start. UP join in.

Allrounders-1 set: Sri Lanka captain Chamari too unsold for now.

Allrounders-1 set: Sune Luus, SA captain, joins Knight in going unsold.

Allrounders-1 set: That’s a Rachael Haynes pick right there! Annabel Sutherland to GG for Rs 70 lakh. Super pick.

Allrounders-1 set: DC and GG are in for Annbel Sutherland.

Allrounders-1 set: We start off with a surprise. No takers for Heather Knight, the English captain.

Purse remaining: RCB might have to bid their time for the next few sets (of course, could drive up prices).

Some reactions: Namaskara Bengaluru, says Smriti Mandhana in her chat on JioCinema.

Parth Jindal, DC’s co-owner: Beauty of the auction. We had to recalibrate. We look at the percentage of the budget.

WPL 2023 auction marquee set: Smriti Mandhana, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Ash Gardner get Rs 3 crore-plus bid

Watch, WPL: As Smriti Mandhana goes to RCB, reactions in the Indian camp

Batters-1 set: Time for a break.

Batters-1 set: Beaumont is unsold and now we go to the all-rounders set.

Batters-1 set: DC have started things off with a bang in this set. Shafali Verma goes to the Capitals for Rs 2 crore.

Batters-1 set: Shafali Verma of course has a bidding war. DC and MI.

Batters-1 set: Unsold. Tazmin Brits and Laura Wolvaardt (WOW!). Shafali Verma next.

Batters-1 set: Meg Lanning to DC for Rs 1.10 Crore. Wow. That’s some way to sign your first two.

Batters-1 set: DC sign their first player. Jemimah Rodrigues Rs 2.20 crore.

Batters-1 set: MI come in late for Jemimah. Of course! Rs 2 crore and counting.

Batters-1 set: Beth Mooney and Sophia Dunkley to potentially open for Gujarat Giants. Next up is Jemimah and yep, we are already at Rs 1 crore and counting. UP and Delhi going for her.

Batters-1 set: Sophia Dunkley to GG for Rs 60 lakh. That is another steal.

Batters-1 set: And now time for the batters. Some big names here in this set. DC and GG are interested in Sophia Dunkley.

Marquee set 2: Amelia Kerr. Rs 1 crore to MI! That is a huge steal.

Marquee set 2: South Africa pacer Shabnim Ismail goes to UP Warriorz for Rs 1 crore.

Marquee set 2: Delhi Capitals, who have CricViz assisting them, yet to sign a player. Remember there is plenty of value later in the auction.

Marquee set 2: GG get Beth Mooney for Rs 2 crore.

Marquee set 2: MI want Mooney. This is not going to be cheap. GG come in too, DC showed interest. Mahela steps in. Rs 1.8 crore at the moment.

Marquee set 2: Beth Mooney next. RCB going for her again! This is surely tactical from them. MI want her too. RCB won’t go for much more surely.

Marquee set 2: UPW get Tahlia McGrath for Rs 1.4 crore.

Marquee set 2: Next up is Tahlia McGrath. A late entry from UP for Rs 1.4 crore when GG seemed set.

Marquee set 2: Nat Sciver-Brunt to MI for Rs 3.2 crore.

Marquee set 2: Nat Sciver-Brunt time. MI and UP going big, nearly Rs 3 crore.

Marquee set 2: RCB going big! Renuka Singh Thakur for Rs 1.5 crore. That is such a strong core, but the eyes must be on the budget now.

Marquee set 2: UP Warriorz get their marquee Indian buy. Deepti Sharma gets Rs 2.6 Crore.

Marquee set 2: UP come in late for Deepti. Looked like she was getting to MI... and they come back in at Rs 2.4 crore.

Marquee set 2: Expecting DC will be active in this set. Yet to sign a player. GG and MI were interested too for Deepti.

Marquee set 2: We begin with Deepti Sharma. Expect some good bids here.

Lovely video this:

Purse remaining: RCB have spent nearly half the budget for three players but they have got three match-winners. Hesson just says they are happy with these three and reckons maybe other teams are a little wary of the budget.

Marquee set 1: Here’s how the marquee set went.

Marquee set 1: Sophie Ecclestone to UP Warriorz for Rs 1.8 crore.

Marquee set 1: Ellyse Perry to RCB for Rs 1.7 crore. Ee sala?

Marquee set 1: And it’s Ellyse Perry time. RCB and DC in the early bidding.

Marquee set 1: ASH GARDNER TO GIANTS FOR Rs 3.20 crore.

Marquee set 1: Unsold Hayley Matthews for now. Next up is Ash Gardner and she is nearing Rs 3 crore already. MI, GG, UP are all interested.

Marquee set 1: Sophie Devine is next and she goes to Royal Challengers Bangalore for her base price of Rs 50 Lakh. That’s a steal, there.

Marquee set 1: Harmanpreet Kaur to MI for Rs 1.8 crore.

Marquee set 1: Harmanpreet Kaur next. MI and RCB and DC are in the fray. At 1.7 crore UP come in.

Marquee set 1: SMRITI MANDHANA TO RCB FOR Rs 3.40 crore. The 18s of the Indian national team unite!

Marquee set 1: It’s MI and RCB only for now. Rs 3 crore and counting.

Marquee set 1: The initial bidding is between MI and RCB for Mandhana.

Marquee set 1: The first name is Smriti Mandhana, what a start.

Marquee set 1: Here we go, some big names.

2.35 pm: Here we go, we should get underway anytime now. Looks like we will have a logo unveiling at the start.

Ahead of #WPLAuction, plugging this recollection by Harmanpreet Kaur of what WBBL meant to her in 2016. It is what it will mean for some young cricketers in 2023.

Do you remember your WBBL debut and a six that you hit over cover (December 2016)?

Yes, yes. I remember. (Smiles). I remember before going to play that WBBL... in the beginning of this interview, we spoke about the sweep shot. I always liked to play on the leg side. Off side was something that was a little worrisome for me. That time I was working with Harshal Pathak. The entire time, he made me only bat on the offside. He told me ‘you are not going to play a single shot on the leg side. Practice only offside shots, forget about the leg side.’ That game also I initially started playing leg side, even though I didn’t practice for six months playing any shot there. But then, inside me, there was this feeling. The offside fielders were up and I just wanted to play that shot. When I hit, even I was surprised. I practised it a lot but that was the first time I hit it that well in a match. It was good to see that I got a lot of positive response for it.

I remember the bowler’s reaction for it. Gemma Triscari could barely believe what she had seen. Adam Gilchrist on air too. And so, from there in WBBL now we have the Women’s Premier League. It’s obvious WBBL played a big role in your career, this league will end up doing something similar for the Indians right?

It will. I know how important for me WBBL, Kia Super League and The Hundred were. Domestic cricket is not sufficient for a player to improve. When you have a top league, I know how important it is to improve day by day. It is going to play a big role for all players. In the WPL, all games will be on television and nobody is going to miss out on the domestic talent. That is a key point. I am actually looking forward to seeing all the young talent in India.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of WPL 2023 player auction.

It’s a day many of us have waited for. The Indian Premier League ventures into the women’s game, and as the adage goes, better late than never. We should have probably been here a few years back but it is now here and it is already bringing in the big bucks for BCCI.

More than 400 players are in the final player list (it appears to have grown from 409 to 448) and 90 slots are available to be filled. It is a little bit of a shame that the first edition is going to be with only five teams (which means only a total of 60 Indian cricketers could be selected) but even otherwise, this has the potential to be a game-changing day for the women’s game.

The auction is live on JioCinema and Sports18 in India.

Screenshots in the blog courtesy ViaCom18 / BCCI.