India’s star opening batter Smriti Mandhana emerged as the most expensive buy in the player auction for the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League in Mumbai on Monday.

Mandhana was the first name in the auction and ended up being the biggest buy of the day, being acquired by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for a whopping Rs 3.4 crore.

Blog: Women’s Premier League 2023 player auction

Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner and England’s Natalie Sciver-Brunt were the only other players who fetched bids of over Rs 3 crore. While Gardner went to Gujarat Giants for Rs 3.2 crore, Sciver-Brunt was picked up by Mumbai Indians for Rs 3.2 crore.

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Deepti Sharma was the second-most expensive Indian player on the day. The all-rounder went to UP Warriorz for Rs 2.6 crore. Jemimah Rodrigues, who played a starring role in India’s opening victory against Pakistan in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, went to Delhi Capitals for Rs 2.2 crore.

Harmanpreet Kaur, India’s current captain in T20 Internationals, was acquired by Mumbai Indians for Rs 1.8 crore. Shafali Verma, India’s U19 World Cup-winning captain, got a Rs 2 crore bid from Delhi Capitals, while keeper-batter Richa Ghosh and all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar got bids of Rs 1.9 crore each from RCB and MI respectively.

Here’s a look at the top 10 most expensive players in the WPL 2023 auction:

Top 10 picks

Player name Country Specialism Reserve Price Rs Lakh Bid (In Rs Lakh) Team
Smriti Mandhana India Batter 50 340 RCB
Ashleigh Gardner Australia All-rounder 50 320 GG
Natalie Sciver England All-rounder 50 320 MI
Deepti Sharma India All-rounder 50 260 UPW
Jemimah Rodrigues India Batter 50 220 DC
Beth Mooney Australia Wicketkeeper 40 200 GG
Shafali Verma India Batter 50 200 DC
Pooja Vastrakar India All-rounder 50 190 MI
Richa Ghosh India Wicketkeeper 50 190 RCB
Sophie Ecclestone England All-rounder 50 180 UPW