WPL 2023 auction breakdown: Smriti Mandhana to Ash Gardner, full list of players signed by teams

The player auction for the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League was held in Mumbai on Monday and it didn’t disappoint, with a number of cricketers bagging substantial bids and grabbing headlines.

India’s star opener Smriti Mandhana was the most expensive player on the day as Royal Challengers Bangalore acquired her for an impressive Rs 3.4 crore. Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner and England’s Natialie Sciver-Brunt were the most expensive overseas picks, going to Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians respectively for Rs 3.2 crore each.

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A total of 87 players were signed up in the auction by the five franchises, with 57 of them being Indian and 30 overseas. Unsurprisingly, the all-conquering Australian side saw the most picks with 14 in total, followed by England on 7.

Here’s a look at the number of players signed and funds remaining for each franchise at the end of the auction:

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

Now, let’s take a look at the full list of players signed by the five teams:

Delhi Capitals

Delhi Capitals started cautiously and took their time to get in on the action. But once they did, they made a number of impressive signings. Batter Jemimah Rodrigues, who played a starring role in India’s opening win against Pakistan at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, was their biggest buy at Rs 2.2 crore. In Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey and Poonam Yadav, they got four more quality Indian internationals. While South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp, Australia’s Meg Lanning and more added overseas firepower. Lanning would be expected to lead a quite balanced side.

Gujarat Giants

In Ash Gardner, Beth Mooney and Annabel Sutherland, Gujarat Giants got three high class Australian cricketers in their ranks. The trio is part of the dominant Aussie team and will lend great stability to the squad. England’s Sophia Dunkley and West Indies’ Deandra Dottin are also quality overseas picks. Nooshin Al Khadeer, part of the GG support staff who knows India’s domestic talent better than most, later said that the franchise focussed on getting the right overseas talent early and then filled up the Indian slots.

So in terms of Indian players, Giants might not have the superstars but they made some shrewd picks in the end. Sneh Rana was GG’s most expensive buy and is a potential leader, having worked closely with Al Khadeer at Railways. Harleen Deol, a regular in international cricket, was also added while the talented S Meghana and D Hemalatha could prove to be smart recruits in the coming weeks. The batting department, in terms of Indian talent, could prove to be a weakness.

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians got the second-most expensive player in Nat Sciver-Brunt and also gained attention for acquiring India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, but at the end of the auction, one could say they were left a bit light in terms of batting. Pooja Vastrakar is a pace-bowling all-rounder with great potential while left-handed batter Yastika Bhatia is a regular for India. New Zealand’s leg-spinning all-rounder Amelia Kerr is a high class addition and West Indies’ Hayley Matthews is a proven batting all-rounder. MI did make some quality picks, including some fine all-rounders, but they could be caught lacking in certain areas.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

If there was one franchise that set the stage on fire in the initial phase of the auction, it was Royal Challengers Bangalore. They started with a bang by locking Mandhana for the biggest sum, before quickly adding Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine and Renuka Singh as well. They then acquired Richa Ghosh, arguably the most promising young keeper-batter in world cricket at the moment, before adding even more depth with Heather Knight, Dané Van Niekerk and Megan Schutt. The star power in RCB is second to none and they will undoubtedly be one of the biggest attractions once the season begins. Their scouting in the domestic circuit was evident too as they added some impressive uncapped Indian picks during the middle-phase with the likes of Disha Kasat and Shreyanka Patil.

UP Warriorz

They finished with the least number of players (16) in their squad, but UP Warriorz were perhaps the most impressive franchise at the auction early on. Deepti Sharma is one of the best spin-bowling all-rounders, Tahlia Mcgrath is one of the best pace-bowling all-rounders, Grace Harris is one of the most powerful hitters, and Sophie Ecclestone is arguably the best spinner in the world. Then there is the mouth-watering opening pair of Alyssa Healy and Shweta Sehrawat, pacer Shabnim Ismail’s experience, and the quality of left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad. Not to mention, the likes of Devika Vaidya, Anjali Sarvani, Kiran Navgire and Parshavi Chopra as well. The price paid for Vaidya ended their auction early but the UP team will surely be a force to reckon with.