WPL 2023 Auction: Women’s Premier League 2023 Auction: The stage is set for the much-anticipated Women’s Premier League (WPL) Player Auction in Mumbai, where 449 female cricketers will be auctioned off for five teams: Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and UP Warriorz.

Smriti Mandhana was the first player to take the field, and she remains the most expensive player thus far, having been acquired for 3.4 crore by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). In the first round of bidding, RCB broke the bank by acquiring Australia and New Zealand stalwarts Ellyse Perry and Sophie Devine in addition to Mandhana. Meanwhile, UP Warriorz acquired Sophie Ecclestone, and Ash Gardner was the second most expensive player, having been acquired by the Gujarat Giants for 3.2 crore.

Join us in welcoming the first Royal Challenger, Smriti Mandhana! 😍

Welcome to RCB 🔥#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #WPL2023 #WPLAuction pic.twitter.com/7q9j1fb8xj

— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) February 13, 2023

Lydia Greenway, a panellist for the broadcasters, says that players in her era would have been lucky to earn the amount that Smriti Mandhana has gone for in this auction in their lifetime. Footage also emerged of the Indian team celebrating while watching the auction in South Africa with Mandhana and Harmanpreet.

Also Read: Viacom18 has won Women’s IPL Media Rights For Rs 951 Crore

Ecclestone has a starting price of 50 lakh. Gujarat Giants begin the bidding, with DC entering at 55 lakh. UP Warriorz is worth 1.2 crore. They value her at Rs. 1.8 crore.

Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry attracts a bid of INR 1.7 Crore from Royal Challengers Bangalore

RCB fans, how excited are you to see her in the Red and Gold jersey?🤩#WPLAuction | #CricketTwitter | #WomensIPL pic.twitter.com/RkZWC0kzQK

— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 13, 2023

The auction for the inaugural season of the WPL will take place on February 13 at 2.30 p.m. at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai.

WPL Auction 2023 : Full list of sold, unsold players; RCB gets Smriti Mandhana, Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine

As Viacom18 has won the broadcasting rights to the WPL 2023, the event can be seen live on the Network18 sports channels. The event will be broadcast live on the Jio Cinema app.

Three of the five franchises are already accustomed to auction dynamics as a result of their participation in the IPL, while the two new entrants – Gujarat Giants, owned by the Adani Group, and Capri Global-owned UP Warriorz – have a good understanding of cricket auctions as a result of their investments in other overseas leagues.

However, because this is the first auction of a women’s franchise league, the equations are likely to be different, as a total of 448 cricketers will be auctioned, of which 269 are Indians and 179 are from other countries (19 of these are from the Associate Nations).

WPL AUCTION 2023 – ALL SOLD PLAYERS