14 February 2023: Indian batter Smriti Mandhana becomes the most expensive player in the WPL. Read to know more.
For the first time in history, women cricketers will be playing in a premier league in India called the Women Premier League or WPL.
Smriti Mandhana, the star batter for India became the most expensive player in the league.
In WPL, similar to IPL or Indian Premier League, which is for men- the owners of the teams ‘buy’ players in an auction. The owners bid for the players and the highest bidder gets the player in their team. Each team has a maximum budget of 12 crores.
The Royal Challengers Bangalore team paid 3.4 crore to get the 26-year-old batter, which is the highest bid made in the auction.
Five organizations signed a total of 87 players as the world waits for the competition to start in March. Many teams pursued the Indian star, but Royal Challengers Bangalore ultimately signed her for an astounding 3.40 Cr.
As they moved on to more Indian stars like Renuka Singh and Richa Ghosh, RCB had a terrific auction. Ellyse Perry and Megan Schutt from Australia, Sophie Devine from New Zealand, and Heather Knight from England were all signed by the RCB team.
In the unprecedented auction for the first season of the Women Premier League, six women broke the $2 billion mark. Delhi Capitals also paid 2.2 crore and 2 crore, respectively, to acquire Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma.
Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Giants, UP Warriorz are the five teams in the WPL. Keep an eye !