The Women’s Premier League (WPL) gears up for its 2024 season with a highly anticipated auction scheduled for December 9 in Mumbai. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) unveiled a comprehensive list of 165 players set to go under the hammer during this event.
Among the registered players, 104 are Indian, and 61 hail from overseas, including 15 from associate nations.
Headlining the auction are West Indies’ Deandra Dottin and Australia’s Kim Garth, both placing themselves at an esteemed base price of Rs 50 lakh. The auction dynamics involve five teams vying for talent to fill a total of 30 slots, with nine reserved for international players.
In preparation for the upcoming season, franchises made strategic decisions on player retention. Sixty players, including 21 from overseas, were retained, while 29 found themselves released from their existing squads. Gujarat Giants enter the auction with the most substantial salary cap, boasting Rs. 5.95 crore, while defending champions Mumbai Indians have a comparatively modest purse of 2.1 crore.
Notable players, such as Sri Lanka’s Chamari Attapaththu and Australia’ Alana King, have set their base prices at Rs 30 lakhs.
As the cricketing world eagerly awaits the outcome of the WPL 2024 auction, the distribution of talent and team strategies will undoubtedly shape the landscape of women’s premier cricket in the coming season. The bidding war is poised to be intense, with franchises strategically navigating the available funds to secure a competitive squad for the challenging battles ahead.