AUCTION ANALYSIS
Follow UsThe mini-auction for the 2025 edition of the Women’s Premier League just got over, and it mostly went as expected — finished quickly, lots of players went unsold, and some Indian players earned surprising amounts of life-changing money.
Let’s see how the five teams are shaping up after this mini-auction in Bengaluru.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Players bought: Prema Rawat (1.2 crore), Joshitha JV (10 Lakh), Raghvi Bist (10 Lakh), Jagravi Pawar (10 Lakh)
The defending champions, RCB, came into the auction with an excellent strategy. They clearly identified what they needed to complete their already strong squad.
They had four spots to fill with a big purse of 3.25 crore, and, as it turned out, they needed only 1.5 crore out of that to fill those slots.
Prema Rawat, the leg spinner and lower-order batter from Uttarakhand, can be directly slotted in the squad as a like-for-like replacement for Asha Sobhana. RCB needed an Indian pacer to bowl along with Renuka Thakur, and they decided to invest in the mighty impressive right-arm pacer from Kerala, Joshitha VJ. Joshitha is already a part of the India women’s U19 squad that is participating in the U19 Women’s Asia Cup.
Also read: Meet Prema Rawat, bought by RCB for INR 1.2 crore
RCB also bought Jagravi Pawar, the right-arm pacer from Mumbai who was the highest wicket-taker in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy 2024 in her side’s title-winning campaign. Raghvi Bist, who recently got an India call-up for the T20I series against the West Indies, will be a good backup batter in the middle order.
Mumbai Indians
Players bought: G Kamalini (1.6 crore), Nadine de Klerk (30 Lakh), Akshita Maheshwari (20 Lakh), Sanskriti Gupta (10 Lakh)
MI had a purse of 2.65 crore, and they used it efficiently to shore up some excellent backup options in their squad.
Tamil Nadu’s 16-year-old wicketkeeper and left-handed batting prodigy G Kamalini can be a like-for-like replacement for Yastika Bhatia in case Bhatia’s injury prolongs into the WPL season.
Also read: Who is 16-year-old G Kamalini, bought by MI for 1.6 crore?
Meanwhile, Rajasthan’s impressive pace bowling allrounder Akshita Maheshwari can do the Pooja Vastrakar role. She picked up 23 wickets in just eight games in the Women’s U23 ODI Trophy for Rajasthan and is an up-and-coming batter with some decent hitting power.
Madhya Pradesh’s off-spinning all-rounder Sanskriti Sharma can also be a good matchup option on turning pitches. She recently had a 6/13 spell in the domestic season for Maharashtra.
The best pick for MI was South Africa’s impressive pace-bowling allrounder Nadine de Klerk, who will fill the spot vacated by Issy Wong in the squad. Her batting adds to the strength of MI’s lower-order batting, which needed bolstering, with them being a very front-heavy batting lineup, and a more than handy back-up in case of any injury concern to their pace bowling all-rounders.
Gujarat Giants
Players bought: Simran Shaikh (1.9 crore), Deandra Dottin (1.7 crore), Danielle Gibson (30 Lakh), Prakashika Naik (10 Lakh)
The Giants needed some solid overseas fast bowling options prior to the auction, and they achieved that with the largest purse of INR 4.4 crore in the mini-auction.
They bought allrounder Deandra Dottin once again after letting her go just a few days before the first season of the WPL. Along with her, they also got England’s pacer Danielle Gibson. However, Gujarat might find it hard to fit all of them in the final XI with only four overseas players involved.
Meanwhile, Simran Sheikh’s batting certainly impressed the Giants as the Mumbai batter was the costliest player sold in the auction. She was part of Mumbai’s domestic T20 champion side recently and can hit the ball down the ground with a lot of power.
Additionally, Prakashika Naik will add another leg-spinning option in the setup along with Priya Mishra.
Delhi Capitals
Players bought: N Charani (55 Lakh), Nandini Kashyap (10 Lakh), Sarah Bryce (10 Lakh), Niki Prasad (10 Lakh)
Just like RCB, DC also came into the auction with their eyes set on particular players who would fill the gaps in their squad.
As a result, they bought a solid Indian wicketkeeper batter in Nandini Kashyap and an internationally experienced associate player, Sarah Bryce, for the same role. Bryce will allow them to play an extra overseas batter in the top three.
Niki Prasad, who’s captaining the India U19 side in the Women’s Asia Cup, is also there in the squad and can contribute a lot with the bat in the middle order. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh’s left-arm spinning allrounder N Charani also adds to the spin reserves. DC are looking solid before yet another WPL season.
UP Warriorz
Players bought: Alana King (30 Lakh), Arushi Goel (10 Lakh), Kranti Goud (10 Lakh)
On paper, UPW's auction looks poor. They needed an experienced Indian or overseas pacer to bolster their frail pace bowling attack, which relies too much on Saima Thakor at the moment. They failed to buy an overseas pace option or an experienced Indian one.
While Kranti Goud is a serious right-arm pacer with some solid performances this season, she might find it hard to replicate the same level of performance from the start of the WPL.
Arushi Goel of Delhi adds to the batting options available to the Warriorz. Ultimately, UPW could spend only 50 Lakh out of the 3.9 crore purse they had at their disposal.
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