Deepti Sharma has been bought by the UP Warriorz for INR 2.6 crore at the inaugural Women's Premier League auction in Mumbai on Monday. The auction for her started at a base price of 50 lakhs with Delhi raising the paddle. Mumbai also showed interested with Capitals, Gujarat and Mumbai enterting into a three-way bidding war for her. However eventually it was the UP Warriorz who entered the race later and won it having roped the ace Indian all-rounder for 2.6 Crore.
As many as 409 players from India and abroad are participating in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2023 auction. 39 players were added late in the list which has taken the overall number to 438. Five franchises will bid for a maximum of 90 players in the WPL 2023 auction.
Deepti Sharma of the Indian team is currently third in the T20 International rankings for women bowlers and second in the rankings for all-rounders. There is nothing that Deepti can't do and her remarkable all-round abilities make her a valuable asset for any team. The 25-year-old has been the most successful T20I all-rounder in recent years and remains the only player to score over 400 runs and take 40 wickets in T20Is since 2021.
The inaugural edition of the tournament will see as many as 22-matches played from March 4 to March 26 across the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Mumbai vs Ahmedabad could be the first match of the season. It is worth highlighting that while the Mumbai team is owned by Mukesh Ambani, the Ahmedabad based side was successfully bid for by Gautam Adani.
History was made on February 13 when Smriti Mandhana became the first player to be auctioned at the WPL Players Auction. She was bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for 3.40 crore. Soon after, Harmanpreet Kaur went to Mumbai for 1.80 crore which had made it clear that this was going to be an epic evening in India's cricketing history.