WPL 2025 auction: Deandra, Simran, Kamalini & Prema emerge as most expensive players (Ld)

Bengaluru, Dec 15 (SocialNews.XYZ) Deandra Dottin, Simran Shaikh, G Kamalini and Prema Rawat fetched big paychecks in the WPL 2025 Auction, which took place at ITC Gardenia, Bengaluru on Sunday.

For acquiring the hard-hitting West Indies’ all-rounder Deandra, one of only three players with a reserve price of Rs 50 lakh in the auction, Gujarat Giants (GG) and UP Warriorz were in a fierce tussle before the Adani Sportsline-owned franchise roped her in for Rs 1.7 crore.

But the biggest story of the auctions was the big deals for uncapped talented Indian players. Mumbai batter Simran, who was with UP Warriorz in WPL 2023, emerged as the costliest uncapped India player after being roped in by GG for Rs 1.9 crore, after edging out Delhi Capitals (DC). Simran was a member of Mumbai and India E winning teams in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy and Challenger Trophy, respectively.

For acquiring hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batter Kamalini, who hit 44 not out in India’s nine-wicket win over Pakistan in the U19 Asia Cup game, Mumbai Indians (MI) shelled out Rs 1.6 crore after a fierce bidding war with DC. MI did have a look at Kamalini during their pre-auction trials, and the WPL 2023 champions did go all out in roping her in.

Hailing from Madurai, Kamalini, 16, trains at the Super Kings Academy in Chennai, and came into the limelight after hitting 311 runs in eight games, as Tamil Nadu won the U19 Women’s T20 Trophy in October. She will be MI’s second wicketkeeper-batter option after Yastika Bhatia.

Another notable uncapped India player to get a big paycheck in the auction was Uttarakhand all-rounder Prema, who was roped in by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for Rs 1.2 crore. Prema, who bowls leg spin, played a key role in Mussoorie Thunders winning the inaugural Uttarakhand Premier League (UPL) this year.

Though DC missed out on getting Kamalini, they were successful in acquiring Uttarakhand wicketkeeper Nandini Kashyap, who got her first India call-up for T20Is against the West Indies, for her base price of Rs 10 lakh.

Nandini was the leading run scorer in the Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy and the third-highest run-getter in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy while playing for Uttarakhand in this domestic season. She will be one of DC’s three wicketkeeping options, alongside Taniyaa Bhatia and Scotland’s Sarah Bryce, who was picked by the side for Rs 10 lakh.

DC and MI were also in a fight to get uncapped India all-rounder N Charani, who bowls let-arm spin, before the former got her in for Rs 55 lakh. MI also got in South Africa all-rounder Nadine de Klerk for Rs 30 lakh.

UP Warriorz got into action in the first accelerated round by picking uncapped batter Arushi Goel and all-rounder Kranti Goud for Rs 10 lakh each. MI roped in uncapped India all-rounder Sanskriti Gupta for Rs 10 lakh while RCB got India U19 pace bowling all-rounder Joshitha VJ for the same amount. Interestingly, Joshitha had attended RCB pre-auction trials.

UPW filled their last overseas slot by picking Australia leg-spinner Alana King for Rs 30 lakh while RCB completed their squad by acquiring uncapped India all-rounder Raghvi Bist, who is in India's squad for T20Is against the West Indies alongside her statemate Nandini, and another uncapped spinner Jagravi Pawar for Rs 10 lakh each.

DC made another steal buy by picking India U19 captain Niki Prasad for Rs 10 lakh, after she previously found no takers while MI roped in uncapped India all-rounder Akshita Maheshwari for Rs 20 lakh. Akshita had attended the MI trials and was said to have impressed their scout Kiran More.

GG ended the two hours and 20-minute-long auction by picking England all-rounder Danielle Gibson for Rs 30 lakh and roping in uncapped India spinner Prakashika Naik for Rs 10 lakh.

The auction also saw prominent capped players like Sneh Rana, Heather Knight, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Darcie Brown, Laura Harris, Kim Garth, Sarah Glenn, Shubha Satheesh, Sushma Verma, Lauren Filer, Mansi Joshi, Lizelle Lee and Rosemary Mair found no takers from the five WPL teams.

Full WPL squads after auction:

Delhi Capitals: Alice Capsey, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Jess Jonassen, Marizanne Kapp, Meg Lanning (c), Minnu Mani, Radha Yadav, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sneha Deepthi, Taniyaa Bhatia, Titas Sadhu, Annabel Sutherland, Nandini Kashyap, N Charani, Sarah Bryce, and Niki Prasad.

Gujarat Giants: Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney (c), Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Laura Wolvaardt, Shabnam Shakil, Tanuja Kanwer, Phoebe Litchfield, Meghna Singh, Kashvee Gautam, Priya Mishra, Mannat Kashyap, Bharti Fulmali, Sayali Satghare, Deandra Dottin, Simran Shaikh, Danielle Gibson, and Prakashika Naik.

Mumbai Indians: Mumbai Indians: Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Chloe Tryon, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Hayley Matthews, Jintimani Kalita, Natalie Sciver, Pooja Vastrakar, Saika Ishaque, Yastika Bhatia, Shabnim Ismail, Amandeep Kaur, Sajeevan Sajana, Keerthana Balakrishnan, Nadine de Klerk, G. Kamalini, Sanskriti Gupta, and Akshita Maheshwari.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Smriti Mandhana (c), Sabbineni Meghana, Richa Ghosh, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Wareham, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Sophie Devine, Renuka Singh, Sophie Molineux, Ekta Bisht, Kate Cross, Kanika Ahuja, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Prema Rawat, Joshitha VJ, Raghvi Bist, and Jagravi Pawar.

UP Warriorz: Alyssa Healy (c), Anjali Sarvani, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris, Kiran Navgire, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shweta Sehrawat, Sophie Ecclestone, Tahlia McGrath, Vrinda Dinesh, Saima Thakor, Poonam Khemnar, Gouher Sultana, Chamari Athapaththu, Uma Chetry, Arushi Goel, Kranti Goud, and Alana King.

Source: IANS