WPL Auction to Take Place in Mumbai on February 13, 409 Players to go Under the Hammer

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday announced that the auction of the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League will take place at the  Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai on February 13th, 2023. The cricket governing body has taken a big step towards the development of women’s cricket as the five-team franchise league is all set to take centerstage in March.

The first edition of WPL will be staged entirely in Mumbai from 4th – 26th March, 2023. A total of 22 matches will be played in WPL 2023 as BCCI has announced that Brabourne Stadium & D.Y. Patil Stadium will host the marquee tournament.

Players from all across the world registered their names for the mega T20 franchise league tournament which is expected to bring a revolution in women’s cricket. A total of 1525 players registered for the inaugural Women’s Premier League Player Auction & the final list was pruned to 409 players.

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“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,” the BCCI stated.

409 players will go under the hammer but only 90 slots are available with the five franchises. While 30 out of the 90 players are reserved for the overseas cricketers.

The Auction ceremony will start at 02:30 PM in Mumbai as the highest base price for the players is set at INR 50 Lakhs.

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A total of 24 players have put their name for the highest bracket which included Indian stars like skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, her deputy Smriti Mandhana, all-rounder Deepti Sharma and  India’s Under-19 T20 World Cup-winning captain Shafali Verma.

Meanwhile, 13 overseas players have also slotted themselves under the INR 50 Lakh reserve price with the likes of Ellyse Perry, Sophie Ecclestone, Sophie Devine & Deandra Dottin to name a few. While 30 players are in the auction list with a base price of INR 40 Lakh.

Several players have put their names for the INR 30 Lakh price bracket. INR 10 Lakh is the lowest base price in the WPL 2023 player’s auction.

Meanwhile, Adani Sportsline Pvt Ltd splashed a whopping Rs 1,289 crore to buy the Ahmedabad-based franchise – the most anyone spent for buying one of the five WPL teams. Next highest on the list was Indiawin Sports Pvt Ltd who bought Mumbai-based franchise for Rs 912.99 crore while Capri Global bought Lucknow for a sum of Rs 757 crore which turned out to be the least amount spent in the auction.