WPL 2023: 409 players to go under the hammer during player's auction
Mumbai (Maharashtra), February 7: The auction for the inaugural Women's Premier League (WPL), which will take place on February 13, will feature 409 players in total, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Tuesday.
This year's inaugural WPL will run from March 4 to March 26. The main tournament will be held at the Brabourne Stadium and D.Y. Patil Stadium, where a total of 22 matches will be played.
The first Women's Premier League Player Auction attracted 1,525 players in total, but only 409 made the cut.
246 of the 409 players are Indian, and 163 are from other countries, including 8 from associate countries. There are 202 total capped players, 199 total uncapped players, and 8 players from associate countries.
With the five teams, there are a total of 90 slots available, 30 of which are designated for international players.
The highest reserve price is Rs 50 lakh, and 24 players have chosen to be included in the top bracket. The few Indians who have qualified for the top bracket are Team India Captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, and Shafali Verma, the captain of India's Under-19 T20 World Cup-winning team.
Ellyse Perry, Sophie Ecclestone, Sophie Devine, and Deandra Dottin, to name a few, are just a few of the 13 foreign players who have positioned themselves below the Rs 50 lakh reserve price.
The base price for the 30 players in the auction list is Rs 40 Lakh.
The five franchises were acquired for INR 4669.99 crore by the owners of the three IPL teams—Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Delhi Capitals—along with Adani Group and Capri Global (about USD 572.78 million). This is the largest deal in women's cricket history. On January 25, the successful bidders were announced.
"Today is a historic day in cricket as the bidding for teams of the inaugural #WPL broke the records of the inaugural Men's IPL in 2008! Congratulations to the winners as we garnered Rs 4669.99 cr in total bid," BCCI's secretary Jay Shah confirmed the news.
- ANI
