BENGALURU: After an underwhelming inaugural Women’s Premier League season with UP Warriorz, Simran Shaikh watched the previous edition of the competition as a spectator. Going unsold in last season’s auction, the 22-year-old all-rounder went back to the drawing board and delivered for Mumbai in the domestic season. She reaped the rewards to become the most expensive buy at the mini auction held here on Sunday.
With a base price of Rs 10 lakh, Simran spurred a bidding war between Gujarat Giants and Delhi Capitals, before the former put out the winning bid of Rs 1.9 crore.
With just 19 slots to be filled from 124 players, the auction was probably one of the quickest and wrapped up in under two hours, but not before uncapped Indian talent hit pay dirt.
Tamil Nadu’s rising star G Kamalini, one among four who surpassed the crore mark on the day, was another sought-after youngster, snapped up by Mumbai Indians, who beat persistent Delhi Capitals, with a Rs. 1.6 crore bid.
The all-rounder, a product of the CSK Academy, made a statement of intent in the BCCI Women’s U-19 T20 Trophy recently. The 16-year-old big hitter compiled 311 runs from eight matches to help Tamil Nadu annex the title. Currently wearing the India colours at the U-19 Asia Cup in Malaysia, the left-handed batter was the ‘Player of the Match’ on Sunday for her unbeaten 29-ball 44 against Pakistan.
Although Delhi Capitals had a rather quiet day, they increased the bidding amount for most of the big buys. Among them was Uttarakhand spinner Prema Rawat, who started at a base price of Rs 10 lakh and was offered the winning bid of Rs 1.20 crore by defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru. RCB added the leg spinner to their stable in addition to Asha Sobhana.
The 23-year-old Prema garnered attention during the Uttarakhand Premier League. Turning out for Mussoorie Thunders, she came good with both the ball and the bat.
DOTTIN BACK WITH GG
Giants, who went into the auction with the maximum purse of Rs 4.4 crore, also accounted for the second highest bid. West Indies’ Deandra Dottin, who was controversially released by the Giants days before the inaugural edition, returned to the franchise for Rs 1.70 crore.
The first player to go under the hammer, the 33-year-old Dottin was among the three players with the Rs 50 lakh base price.
Among the players who surprisingly went unsold were Sneh Rana, England skipper Heather Knight, her compatriot Lauren Bell and Australian Laura Harris.
