New Delhi: Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited, which also owns the men's Indian Premier League team, will own the Bengaluru franchise in the Women's Premier League. Outbidding 11 other bidders, the owners offered Rs 901 crore, or approximately $100 million.
India's Smriti Mandhana was the first player up for auction. After a frantic bidding war, she was sold to RCB for Rs 3.4 crore.
In addition to Chennai, Bengaluru had received the most bids: 12. It is believed that the owners focused on the WPL rather than bidding on men's teams in international leagues like ILT20 and SA20.
Here is the full list of the players bought by the franchise in the 2023 WPL Auctions: Smriti Mandhana (INR 3.4 crore), Sophie Devine (INR 50 lakh), Ellyse Perry (INR 1.7 crore), Renuka Singh (INR 1.5 crore), Richa Ghosh (INR 1.9 crore), Erin Burns (INR 30 lakh), Disha Kasat (INR 10 lakh), Indrani Roy (INR 10 lakh), Shreyanka Patil (INR 10 lakh), Kanika Ahuja (35 lakh), Asha Shobana (INR 10 lakh), Heather Knight (INR 40 lakh), Heather Knight (INR 40 lakh), Dane van Niekerk (INR 30 lakh), Priti Bose (INR 30 lakh), Poonam Khemnar (INR 10 lakh), Komal Zanzad (INR 25 lakh), Megan Schutt (INR 40 lakh), Sahana Pawar (INR 10 lakh)
The Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, and Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise owners all purchased WPL teams; the Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz are the other two teams.
Mumbai will host the much-anticipated Women's Premier League (WPL) inaugural season from March 4 to March 26.
All of the games will be played at the Brabourne Stadium and the DY Patil Stadium. The Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians-owned franchise are expected to play in the tournament's opening game.
The inaugural season will consist of 22 games, with the league stage's highest-ranked team automatically qualifying for the final. The teams in second and third place will compete for a spot in the title game.