All-rounder Deepti Sharma, whose player-of-the-tournament efficiency helped India win the World Cup earlier this month, fetched the best worth on the Girls’s Premier League (WPL) public sale, whereas Australia captain Alyssa Healy, one of many marquee gamers up for grabs, went unsold.
UP Warriorz used a “proper to match” choice to equal Delhi Capitals’ bid of INR 3.2 crore (32 million Indian rupees, $549,000) to re-sign 28-year-old Sharma on Thursday, as 5 franchises spent a complete of INR 40.8 crore ($6.99 million) to signal 67 gamers forward of the fourth version of the Twenty20 league.
New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr was the second-most-expensive participant on the public sale held in New Delhi, snapped up for INR 3 crore ($514,000) by defending champions Mumbai Indians, for whom she has performed since 2023.
Mumbai, two-time winners of the Indian T20 league, have retained 5 gamers, the utmost variety of pre-auction retentions allowed by the WPL, together with India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, as they regarded to maintain their core intact forward of the title defence.
However wicketkeeper-batter Healy, who had performed for UP final yr, was the shock of the night as she was the one one among the many eight marquee gamers to go unsold.
There have been 10 Australians picked up within the public sale, with UP Warriorz securing Meg Lanning for INR 1.9 crore ($326,000) and Phoebe Litchfield for INR 1.2 crore ($205,000).
New Zealand all-rounder Sophie Devine, who skipped the WPL’s 2025 version, was the topic of an intense bidding battle involving three groups, together with her former facet Royal Challengers Bengaluru, earlier than being secured by Gujarat Giants for INR 2 crore ($342,700).
Delhi, who’ve misplaced three WPL finals in a row, had been restrained with their bidding after retaining 5 gamers, together with Indian internationals Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma.
They signed Shree Charani and Chinelle Henry for INR 1.3 crore ($222,700) every, and likewise picked up South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt for INR 1.1 crore ($188,500).
The WPL’s 2026 version is about to happen from January 9 to February 5 in Navi Mumbai and Vadodara. The ultimate will happen two days earlier than India co-hosts the lads’s T20 World Cup with Sri Lanka.
Reuters
