The inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) player auction in Mumbai on Monday saw 87 players picked up by five teams, out of which 30 were overseas cricketers, with INR 59.5 crore the overall money spent in the auction.
New Delhi: England batter Danille Wyatt shared a heartbroken post after she remained unsold in the inaugural auction of the Women’s Premier League 2023 (WPL) which was held in Mumbai on Monday, February 13 2023. The first season of WPL will start on March 3 and would take place in the Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.
The inaugural WPL player auction in Mumbai on Monday saw 87 players picked up by five teams, out of which 30 were overseas cricketers, with ₹59.5 crore – the overall money spent in the auction. India’s Smriti Mandhana was the most expensive buy as Royal Challengers Bangalore roped in the star cricketer for a whopping price of ₹3.40 crore.
Mandhana was also the first player to come up for bidding at the auction on Monday, having a base price of INR 50 lakh. RCB and Mumbai Indians were locked in an intense battle, before the former managed to acquire her services, who can be an opening as well as a captaincy option for the team
“Dreamt of playing in the WPL. Heartbroken. Congrats to all who got picked up. India is a wonderful place to play cricket,” wrote Wyatt on Twitter.
Dreamt of playing in the WPL. Heartbroken 💔 Congrats to all who got picked up. India is a wonderful place to play cricket
— Danielle Wyatt (@Danni_Wyatt) February 14, 2023
Some of the biggest names that went unsold at the auction were Laura Wolvaardt, Danni Wyatt, Alana King, Sune Luus, Lizelle Lee, Chamari Athapaththu, Suzie Bates, Darcie Brown, Lea Tahuhu, Katherine Sciver-Brunt, Tammy Beaumont and Stafanie Taylor. In terms of Indian players, Simran Dil Bahadur, Priya Punia, Soumya Tiwari, Archana Devi, Meghna Singh and Ekta Bisht were missing.
