Watch: Smriti Mandhana reacts on becoming most expensive player for WPL 2023, to play for RCB
In the opening bid of first ever Women’s Premier League, India’s star player and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana was sold to Royal Challengers Bangalore for ₹3.4 crore — $415,000 approx. This is the hightest bid by any franchise in the WPL 2023 auction as of yet.
Looking at the details, the RCB has spent over half of its total bidding capacity on four players in the first marquee set. This includes India’s explosive wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh for ₹1.9 crore, Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry for ₹1.7 crore and Indian bowlewr Renuka Singh for ₹1.5 crore. However, the franchise bought New Zealand all-rounder Sophie Devine for the base price of ₹50 lakh only.
Catch the LIVE WPL 2023 auction here.
Reacting on being the costliest player in the WPL 2023 bidding, she could not control her reaction. The elegant left-handed batter can be seen all delighted, with all her teammates cheering besides her.
Here’s the viral video:
Commenting in Mandhana likely to be the captain, RCB Director of Cricket, in the presser said, as quoted by ESPNCricInfo, “Everyone knows Mandhana and Perry, we were pretty committed to the couple of people we wanted to get. we’re very happy to get such quality players. it’s a dream result for us to get Mandhana, Perry and Devine. Smriti has got plenty of captaincy experience and is familiar with the Indian conditions so highly likely (she’ll be captain).”
Apart from Mandhana, Australian all rounder Ashleigh Gardner, England’s all rounder Natalie Sciver, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Beth Mooney, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Pooja Vastrakar, Harmanpreet Kaur and others were picked by franchise for over 1.5 crore price.
The bidding is currently underway. As per details, provided by the BCCI, 448 players will go under the hammer, with a maximum of 90 players making the cut across five teams – Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and UP Warriorz. Every team will be able to pick 15-18 players, with a salary purse of ₹12 Crore each.
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