The WPL’s auction has been completed, and five teams participated in the auction. When the first auction was planned in 2008 IPL, all the teams were unaware and clueless. The franchise was also inexperienced in picking the team. 3 out of 5 teams are part of the IPL from the inaugural season, while the other two teams have participated in IPL in 2022 and made a good team. This time the team was aware and knew how to select the squad. All the franchises were aware of what they needed and will try to meet their target. 

WPL got the lower budget compared to the IPL as every team got a purse of 95 cr in the recent IPL auction. On the other hand, WPL got a purse of 12 cr. Since it is the first time for the WPL, budget allocation is not the biggest point. With time, WPL will get a bigger budget.

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If we see the cricket news, all the teams allocated around 2cr price for the top player, and many Indian top Indian players got the price from different franchises. The star Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma got 2.6 cr and joined UP Warriorz. Jemimah Rodrigues got 2.2 cr and joined Delhi Capitals. The U19 T20 world cup winning captain, Shafali Varma joined Delhi Capitals for 2 cr. Pooja Vastrakar got 1.9 cr and joined Mumbai Indians. She is a fast-bowling allrounder, and every team was running after all-rounders due to the demand of the shorter format. Richa Ghosh also got the amount of 1.9 cr as she had performed in the U19 world cup and was part of the winning team. Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur got 1.8 cr and joined Mumbai Indians. 

Almost all the top Indian players got around 2 cr, and the team also has the maximum limit. Smriti Mandana, Ashleigh Gardner, and Nat Sciver-Brunt were exceptions as they touched the 3 cr mark. Royal Challengers Bangalore added the star batsman Smriti Mandana into their squad for 3.4 cr, and the cricket news for India is that she is the most-paid cricket player in WPL. On the other hand, Nat Sciver-Brunt joined Mumbai Indians for 3.2 cr. Ashleigh Gardner is another foreign player to get 3.2 cr and joined Gujarat Giants.

This WPL will provide a platform to the Indian domestic cricket players, and it will also help them financially. But this got difficult for the owners as they didn’t have sufficient information, and it made the situation complicated for the owners as they didn’t have time to spread out their scouts.

One thing was similar in IPL and WPL. All the franchises preferred Indian allrounders and star performers. Apart from Indian players, the franchise also preferred the star foreign players. If we see the world cricket news, Ashleigh Gardner and Natalie Sciver were the highest-paid foreign players and got 3.2 cr, respectively. The Australian star allrounder Ellyse Perry joined RCB for 1.7 cr.

3 out of 5 teams were part of the 1st auction of IPL in 2008. In the first auction, the franchise had no idea about the future and team combination, and the BCCI was also unaware of the IPL future. This time the franchise participated in WPL after 15 years, and they were aware of the situation and tried their best to make the best possible team.

The owner of Mumbai Indians, Nita Ambani, was among the few people who participated in both events, and she talked about the excitement of the auction. She said that auctions always bring excitement, and the first auction of WPL is very exciting. It is special for women and a historic day. WPL will bring name and fame and apart from it, everyone was enjoying the auction and celebrating & cheering. It was an overwhelming feeling. She added that she is happy to get the Indian captain into their squad.

According to the India cricket team’s latest news, Harmanpreet got only 1.8 cr, and it was a surprise that the Indian captain got very less money. Megan Schutt’s auction is also surprising. She is the world’s no.1 fast bowler and was unsold till the last round, and RCB added her into their squad for 40 lakhs. England’s star player Heather Knight and Australia’s star player Alyssa Healy also went for low bids and got 40 lakhs and 70 lakhs respectively. New Zealand’s star player Suzie Bates went unsold, and it was surprising news.

Read about the cricket news on the CBTF’s website.

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