A cursory glance at the social media posts of the current and former women cricketers around the world is proof enough that how highly anticipated the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League is. From a blockbuster broadcast deal to the record-breaking bids for the five franchises purchased at the team auction recently, the build-up for the event has been quite eventful.
A third and arguably, the most important of them all stage before the WPL bandwagon rolls on, will be held later this month: players auction.
In the Indian Premier League (BCCI’s T20 league for male players), the players’ auction has grown into an entertaining affair with cricketers – capped/uncapped waiting with bated breath hoping to land a life-changing deal. And the same could turn out for the female stars as well when the first-ever auction for WPL will be held.
Here we take a look at the top-five stars who may command the lion’s share of the budget the franchise will be splurging at the auction.
Harmanpreet Kaur
Captain Fantastic. She has been one of the regular and top performers for India in white-ball cricket. Her presence in the middle-order is an assurance that Harmanpreet will bail the team out. The 33-year-old has a rich experience of playing in 145 T20Is in which she has scored 2919 runs at an average of 28.33 including a century and 9 half-centuries. She is also a useful offspinner who has 32 wickets to her name in the format.
Besides her all-round capabilities, the seasoned campaigner will be sought-after more for her captaincy skills. And hence, triggering a bidding war.
Smriti Mandhana
From becoming the first-ever Indian woman cricketer to hit a one-day double-century in 2013, Mandhana has risen to become one of the finest batters of the modern era, capable of scoring consistently across formats. Her two ICC Women’s Cricketer of The Year Awards (2018, 2021) are testaments to her prodigious talent.
Mandhana was the top run-getter among the top cricketing nations in 2022 having scored 594 runs from 21 innings at a strike-rate of 133.48. The 26-year-old is a reliable top-order batter who can accelerate at will and can also play the role of an anchor. In 111 T20Is, she has scored 2651 runs at 27.61 and has a strike-rate of 123.58.
Deepti Sharma
A player who is a deceptive spinner, can don the role of a finisher with the bat and is a livewire in the field. Who wouldn’t be interested, right? India all-rounder Deepti Sharma brings with her all these qualities and more. Among the top cricketing nations, the youngster was the top-wicket taker in the format last year with 29 scalps from 25 matches. She recently climbed up to the top spot in the rankings for women’s bowlers in T20Is thanks to her sparkling show in the South Africa tri-series. Besides, Deepti has been also working on her batting skills and has so far scored 898 runs from 62 T20Is at a strike-rate of 106.39.
Tahlia McGrath
The Australian all-rounder had a memorable 2022 for which she was honoured with the ICC Women’s T20I Cricketer of The Year award. In 16 matches at the international level, McGrath scored 435 runs at a stunning average of 62.14 and took 13 wickets as well. The 27-year-old has played 21 T20Is so far in which she averages 68.62 and boasts of a strike-rate of 140.76. With the ball, she has 13 wickets from 13 innings and an economy of 7.33. She would surely be one of the biggest players to watch out for at the auction.
Grace Harris
The Indian viewers got a chance to witness the destructive powers of Australian Harris in December last year during a five-match T20I series in Mumbai. Australia returned home with a 4-1 win and the 29-year-old played a vital role in sealing the world champion’s domination as she blasted 132 runs in three innings at a mind-boggling strike-rate of 203.08. Clearly, she loves batting in Indian conditions. And the franchises will be jostling over to secure her services.
At the international level, she has so far scored 299 runs from 17 innings at a strike-rate of 172.83 and also bowls off-spin having taken 7 wickets so far.
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