After a retention window where five Women’s Premier League franchises opted to retain most of their players, the release of Indian international Sneh Rana by the Gujarat giants was a surprise. The bottom-placed team in the first two editions was paying the price for not picking a strong Indian core before the opening season and now they parted ways with their stand-in captain on a few occasions. They also controversially replaced West Indies’ superstar all-rounder Diandra Dottin, who was not happy with how he was let go after being picked up in the first auction.
Now, both Rana and Dottin are hoping to find a new home to prove themselves to, as the auction for the third WPL season takes place in Bengaluru on Sunday.
With only 19 slots to be filled across five franchises, this auction is expected to be short and largely uneventful. But not without intrigue. Among the international stars to watch apart from the explosive dotting, there is England captain Heather Knight who was released by RCB and top Australian talents in Darcy Brown and Amanda Z-Wellington, who have so far missed out on featuring. league. Scotland wicketkeeper Sarah Bryce could be an interesting choice for teams, especially Delhi Capitals, as as an Allies player, she can slot in as the fifth overseas option in an XI.
But in the case of any of these auctions, the stories lie between uncapped Indian uncapped players. Three of them – Uttarakhand’s Nandini Kashyap, Raghavi Bist and Railways’ Pratika Rawal – have been called up to the Indian squad to face the West Indies from Sunday, less than 48 hours before the auction.
The 21-year-old wicketkeeper Nandini was the highest run scorer in the T20 Challenger Trophy and the highest run scorer in the Women’s T20 Trophy at 137.19 and 125.38 respectively in those two tournaments. That included a 61-ball 117 not out against Pondicherry. The 20-year-old all-rounder Raghavi was impressive on India A’s tour of Australia and had a strike rate of between 120 and 130 in the two domestic T20 tournaments. Called up for the ODIs against the West Indies, Pratika is the sixth highest run-scorer among the Challengers with a top score of 70 off 53 balls. Humaira Qazi, released by Mumbai Indians, could also potentially find a new home. She was the highest run scorer for Mumbai as they won the domestic T20 title, scoring 328 runs in 11 matches at a strike rate of 113.88.
If there’s one criticism of the first two WPL seasons, it’s that uncapped Indian players – while impressive in flashes – haven’t always had consistent opportunities and/or performances. So it will be interesting to see how this team upsets this group of players. Among the capped Indians, apart from Rana, recent debutant Tejal Hasbanis – who played in the ODIs against New Zealand – could be one to keep an eye on.
Defending champions RCB have made a strong off-season move to trade star England opener Danny Wyatt, leaving only domestic shopping to be done. Delhi Capitals are perhaps the most consistent side in two seasons, but have fallen short twice in the finals so they will be hoping to plug holes in their squad – a power-hitting wicketkeeper, in particular – to get them across the finish line. MI again have a strong looking squad, but will look for middle order batting options. A strong Indian batting option is essential for UP.
GG has yet to overhaul its backroom staff after dismal performances in the first two seasons, and ditching mentor Mithali Raj. The Giants are the only team not to make the playoffs in the first two editions. In terms of the rest of the purse, the Giants have the most money to work with.
In the list of 124 players, there are 95 Indian and 29 foreign cricketers, including 3 from associate nations. There are 82 Indian uncapped players and 8 uncapped overseas players in the list.
Gujarat Giants Purse: ₹ 4.40 crore (4 slots remaining, 2 overseas)
UP Warriorz Purse: ₹3.90 crore (3 slots remaining, 1 overseas)
Royals Challengers Bangalore Purs: ₹3.25 crore (4 slots, 0 foreign)
Mumbai Indians Purse: ₹2.65 crore (4 slots, 1 overseas)
Delhi Capitals Purse: ₹2.50 crore (4 slots, 1 overseas)
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