409 players to go under the hammer at inaugural WPL auction

A total of 409 cricketers - 246 Indians and 163 overseas - are set to go under the hammer at the auction for the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League in Mumbai on February 13, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced on Tuesday (February 7). 

A total of 1525 players had registered for the auction before it was trimmed down to 409. The capped players are 202, uncapped are 199 and eight are from associate nations.

The highest reserve price is INR 50 lakh, with 24 players choosing to be slotted in the highest bracket. The likes of Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, India’s Under-19 T20 World Cup-winning captain Shafali Verma, Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy, Sophie Ecclestone and Sophie Devine are all part of the top batch.

The five franchises - Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Delhi and Bengaluru - will have a purse of INR 12 crore, with each squad comprising between 15 to 18 players.  A maximum of 90 slots are available with the five teams, with 30 being slotted for overseas players. The Auction will start at 14:30 IST.

The first edition of the WPL is set to be played in Mumbai from March 4th to 26th. A total of 22 matches will be played with the Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil Stadium playing hosts to the marquee tournament.   

Former England captain Charlotte Edwards was unveiled as the head coach of the Mumbai franchise. Her backroom staff will also consist of the former India pacer Jhulan Goswami who has been roped in as mentor and the bowling coach of the side.

Recently, Adani-owned Gujarat Giants announced Rachael Haynes as their head coach with Mithali as their mentor. Her backroom staff will include Nooshin Al Khadeer (bowling coach) Tushar Arothe (batting coach) and Gavan Twining (fielding coach).

Earlier, Viacom 18 won the media rights for the women's IPL for a period of five years (2023-2027), having already bagged the digital rights for the forthcoming Men's Indian Premier League cycle. Viacom, for the Women's IPL, and committed INR 951 crore, which translates roughly to INR 7.09 crore per game.