Women’s cricket came of age in the ODI World Cup with hosts India crowned champions after they beat South Africa at a packed DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai earlier this month.
Warriorz brought back Deepti, a right-arm spinner and left-hand batter who was the player of the tournament with 22 wickets and 215 runs.
The most expensive player ever sold at the WPL auction is India’s Smriti Mandhana, who was bought by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for 34 million rupees (NZ$664,000) in 2023.
Second on the list are Australia allrounder Ashleigh Gardner and England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt who were sold for US$358,000 ($625,640) in the 2023 auction.
Warriorz also got back England left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone for US$95,000 ($166,000).
Warriorz used the right-to-match card – a rule that allows franchises to retain a player who was released by matching the highest bid – for both Deepti and Ecclestone.
Another big signing for Warriorz was Australia legend Meg Lanning, who went to the franchise for US$212,000 ($370,490) and is seen as a potential captain.
Some other notable foreign picks included, Australia batter Phoebe Litchfield ($134,000 – Warriorz) and South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt ($123,000 – Delhi Capitals).
The most shocking outcome of the auction was that 35-year-old Healy had no takers after she missed this year’s edition because of injury.
Next year’s WPL begins on January 9 with the final scheduled for February 5.
The WPL, staged first in 2023, delivered the Indian cricket board roughly $700m in franchise and media rights alone.
The deals made the WPL the world’s second-most valuable women’s sports league after WNBA women’s basketball in the United States.
- With AFP
