MUMBAI: Chamari Athapaththu, Deandra Dottin and Kim Garth are likely to be the hot picks in the second Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction on Saturday which is being held, inexplicably, at the same time as the second T20I between India and England at the Wankhede Stadium.
A total of 165 players from five franchises — Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, UP Warriorz, Gujarat Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore — will go under the hammer, with a maximum of 30 slots (nine for overseas players) up for grabs. The breakup comprises 104 Indian and 61 overseas players.
Young left-arm spinner Mannat Kashyap is the only player from the current India squad to feature in the auction. The 19-year-old, who has a base price of Rs 10 lakhs, was a member of India’s inaugural Under-19 World Cup-winning side earlier this year.
Each WPL team can have a maximum squad of 18 players. The team that is set to splurge the most in this auction is the Adani-owned Gujarat Giants, who can buy 10 players, including three overseas ones.
The Gujarat Giants finished last in WPL1, losing all but two of their matches. WPL-2 is set to be played in February-March.
Ironically, Dottin, who was controversially released by the Gujarat Giants on the eve of WPL-1 in March on ‘medical grounds’, and her replacement Garth, are the only two players who have chosen to be slotted in the Rs 50-lakh bracket this time.
Four players — Amy Jones (England wicketkeeper-batter) Shabnim Ismail (South African pacer, released by UP Warriorz), Georgia Wareham (Australian leg-spinner, released by Gujarat Giants) and Annabel Sutherland (Australia, released by Gujarat Giants) — have been categorized into the 40-lakh bracket.
Fifteen players from associate nations — the registered number was 19 last year — too will be hoping that they get picked by a franchise for the showpiece event.
USA’s Tara Norris was the only player from the associates who was bought last year in the auction, and she impressed for Delhi Capitals.
