Cricket-Mandhana, Sciver-Brunt and Gardner strike it rich in WPL auction

GB Global

13/02/2023 13:17

MUMBAI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - India opener Smriti Mandhana,
England all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt and Australia's Ashleigh
Gardner struck it rich in Monday's player auction for the
inaugural Women's Premier League (IPL) next month.
    Nearly 450 players went under the hammer and several of them
experienced the biggest payday of their career after five
franchises entered the auction with a team purse of 120 million
Indian rupees ($1.45 million) each.
    The auction began with a bang as Royal Challengers Bangalore
(RCB) splurged 34 million Indian rupees -- over a quarter of
their purse -- to sign left-handed batter Mandhana.
    The 26-year-old is in the highest bracket in India's central
contract for women cricketers with an annual retainership of
five million rupees.
    Sciver-Brunt joined Mumbai Indians, coached by former
England captain Charlotte Edwards, for 32 million rupees, 10
times more the highest salary in the women's Hundred run by the
England and Wales Cricket Board.
    She shares the league's most expensive overseas player's
honour with Gardner, currently the top-ranked T20 all-rounder,
who joined Gujarat Giants for the same amount.
    Delhi Capitals signed Australia captain Meg Lanning for 11
million rupees.
    Bangalore put together an impressive line-up signing
Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry, India wicketkeeper-batter
Richa Ghosh and New Zealand captain Sophie Devine.
    "It's a dream result for us to get Mandhana, Perry and
Devine," Mike Hesson, RCB's director of cricket, told reporters.
    "Smriti has got plenty of captaincy experience and is
familiar with the Indian conditions so highly likely (she'll be
captain)".
    Mumbai Indians signed India captain Harmanpreet Kaur for 18
million rupees and immediately put her in charge of the side.
    "It is a game-changer for all of us," Kaur said of the
auction in a video from the ongoing T20 World Cup in South
Africa.
    "This will entirely change women's cricket not just in
India. We all are looking forward to that."
    The five-team WPL, three of them owned by Indian Premier
League franchises, will be played between March 4 to 26 in two
venues in and around Mumbai.
    ($1 = 82.634 Indian rupees)
 (Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Pritha
Sarkar)
 ((amlan.chakraborty@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter:
@Amlan_Reuters;))