Mumbai: Experienced England player Heather Knight, Lizelle Lee of South Africa and Deandra Dottin of the West Indies will be in the top bracket with a reserve price of Rs 50 lakh when 120 players, including 91 Indians and 29 overseas cricketers including 3 from Associate Nations will go under the hammer in the Player Auction for the 2025 Women’s Premier League (WPL).
Indian all-rounder Sneh Rana, Shubha Satheesh, Poonam Yadav, England’s Lauren Bell, Nadine De Klerk of South Africa, Maia Bouchier of England and Kim Garth of Australia will be among the 28 capped players with a reserve price of Rs 30 lakh each for the auction which will take place in Bengaluru on December 15.
According to the WPL 2025 Player Auction List announced on Saturday, 120 players will be in the fray for the 19 slots, which are up for grabs, with five slots reserved for overseas players.
The list includes nine capped Indian players and 21 capped overseas players, informed Roger Binny, BCCI President & Chairperson, WPL Committee in a release on Saturday. Also facing the hammer will be 82 uncapped Indians and eight uncapped overseas players.
The five franchises each have a budget of INR 15 crore to build their squads for the 2025 season, an increase from INR 13.5 crore in the previous auction.
IANS had reported on November 28 that the 2025 Women’s Premier League (WPL) player auction will be held in Bengaluru on December 15, with the third edition of the five-team tournament likely to begin from the first week of February 2025.
Gujarat Giants, who finished at the bottom of the points table in the first two seasons, have the largest auction purse with INR 4.4 crore. RCB will go into the auction with a purse of INR 3.25 crore, while UP Warriorz enter with INR 3.9 crore in their kitty. Two-time runner-up Delhi Capitals will have a purse of INR 2.5 crore, while 2023 winners Mumbai Indians go in with INR 2.65 crore in their kitty.
(IANS)
