On Tuesday, 7 February, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the names of 409 players who will go under the hammer in the inaugural auction of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), which will be held on 13 February, in Mumbai’s Jio World Convention Centre.
It was further stated that each team will have a purse of Rs 12 crores, while the maximum base price of a player has been set at Rs 50 lakh. Out of the 409 shortlisted cricketers, 24 players have enlisted themselves under the maximum base price category.
Harmanpreet Kaur, skipper of the national side, and India’s U19 T20 World Cup-winning skipper, Shafali Verma are among the 11 Indian cricketers to have a base price of Rs 50 lakh.
Australia’s Ellyse Perry, England’s Sophie Ecclestone and New Zealand’s Sophie Devine are among the 13 overseas stars, for whom the bidding war will commence at the highest base price.
In what will go down as a historic day for women's cricket, three 15-year-old emerging talents in Vinny Suzan, Sonam Yadav and Shabman Shakil will go under the hammer. On the opposite end of the age spectrum are Latika Kumari and Zimbabwe's Precious Marange, who are the only two players in their forties to have made the shortlist.
List of players with a base price of Rs 50 lakh:
Sophie Devine
Sophie Ecclestone
Ashleigh Gardner
Harmanpreet Kaur
Smriti Mandhana
Ellyse Perry
Katherine Brunt
Alyssa Healy
Danielle Wyatt
Jess Jonassen
Meg Lanning
Nat Sciver-Brunt
Sneh Rana
Meghna Singh
Sinalo Jafta
Renuka Singh
Loryn Phiri
Pooja Vastrakar
Jemimah Rodrigues
Richa Ghosh
Darcie Brown
Shafali Verma
Deepti Sharma
Deandra Dottin
199 Uncapped Players To Go Under the Hammer
“The Women’s Premier League Player Auction list is out with a total of 409 cricketers set to go under the hammer at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai on February 13th, 2023. A total of 1525 players registered for the inaugural Women’s Premier League Player Auction & the final list was pruned to 409 players,” BCCI’s secretary, Jay Shah mentioned in a statement.
“Out of 409 players, 246 are Indians and 163 are overseas players of which 8 players are from associate nations. The total capped players are 202, uncapped players are 199 and 8 from associate nations,” he further added.
It was also confirmed that WPL 2023 will be played between 4-26 March.
"The inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League is set to be played in Mumbai from 4th – 26th March, 2023. A total of 22 matches will be played with the Brabourne Stadium & D.Y. Patil Stadium playing hosts to the marquee tournament," the statement said.
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