Live Blog - Women's Premier League 2024 auction

The uncapped Indian pair of Kashvee Gautam and Vrinda Dinesh walked away with top honours at the WPL auction in Mumbai, attracting bids of INR 2 crore (Gujarat Giants) and INR 1.3 crore (UP Warriorz) respectively.

Australia allrounder Annabel Sutherland was the most expensive overseas player, attracting the auction’s joint-highest bid at INR 2 crore, with Delhi Capitals exhausting 88.8% of their remaining purse of INR 2.25 crore on her.

The biggest surprise was Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu missing out for a second-time running after failing to attract a single bid. The WBBL’s MVP who was the second-highest run getter in the tournament, also failed to make it back into the accelerated rounds of the auction, where teams nominated players from the initial unsold list of players.

Some of the other significant exclusions were Deandra Dottin, the former West Indies captain, and Australia allrounder Kim Garth, who were only three players in the highest price bracket (INR 50 lakh). Scotland’s Kathryn Bryce was the lone Associate player picked at the auction, by Giants at her base price of INR 10 lakh.

Ekta Bisht at INR 60 lakh attracted the highest bid among capped India players, while Veda Krishnamurthy and S Meghana went at base prices (INR 30 lakh) in the final accelerated round of auctions after finding no takers initially. Among the big Indian surprises was Devika Vaidya, the allrounder, who was expected to be high on the wishlist of teams after being released by the Warriorz, who bid INR 1.6 crore for her ahead of the inaugural season.

Veda Krishnamurthy to Giants for INR 30 lakh

S Meghana to RCB for INR 30 lakh

Sushma Verma, former Giants, remains unsold

Simran Bahadur to RCB for INR 30 lakh

Parunika Sisodia unsold

Sophie Molineux to RCB for INR 30 lakh

Gouher Sultana to UP Warriorz for INR 30 lakh

Uma Chetry unsold

Nishu Choudhary unsold

Komalpreet Kaur unsold

Tarannum Pathan to Giants for INR 10 lakh

Teams have been asked to nominate a list of players from those who went unsold. We're likely to see some big names come straight back in. Among them are Alana King, Amanda Jade-Wellington, Kim Garth, Veda Krishnamurthy. Who will come back in?

Nicola Carey unsold

Alice Davidson Richards unsold

Australia seamer Lauren Cheatle goes to Giants for base price of INR 30 lakh. The 25-year-old last played in a T20I in 2016

Kirstie Gordon unsold

Indian uncapped batter Dhara Gujjar who was released by Mumbai Indians goes unsold

Scotland allrounder Kathryn Bryce picked by Giants for base price of INR 10 lakh

Under-19 World Cup winner Mannat Kashyap goes to Giants for INR 10 lakh

Ashwani Kumari signed by Delhi Capitals for INR 10 lakh. They can't pick any more players as they only have five lakh left.

Nichola Hancock unsold

Millicent Illingworth usold

Allrounder Fatima Jaffer, niece of former India opener Wasim Jaffer, signed for INR 10 lakh by Mumbai Indians

Keerthana Balakrishnan signed by Mumbai for INR 10 lakh

Paige Schofield unsold

Anushka Sharma unsold

Iris Zwilling unsold

Bhavana Goplani unsold

Devika K unsold

Priyanka Koushal unsold

Shubha Satheesh picked by RCB for INR 10 lakh. She was last week picked in India's Test squad for the England game next week.

Tanisha Singh unsold

Shabnim Ismail on her bid to host broadcasters Sports 18:

"First of I was excited when they started bidding for me. Happy to get the second opportunity to play for the WPL. Very happy to play for the champs. Good to play for different team and looking forward to play under Jhulan Goswami and learning from her. Will love to share my knowledge with the youngsters. Never too old to learn."

Kate Cross on joining RCB:

"Absolutely delighted to have seen that I've been picked up in the auction to represent Bangalore. Looking forward to donning the red and the gold. Always been a huge fan of the IPL and obviously the WPL last year. Love what it's doing for the women's game and can't wait to be involved."

RCB head coach Luke Williams:

Yeah, obviously it was a tough tournament last season for RCB and you'll see from, I guess the overseas has been released that looking at some different options in our bowling attack for this season. So that's been core to our plans, is to have a look at our bowling and how we think we can structure that up with a combination of pace and spin. I've been fortunate to be assistant coach of the Southern Brave the last two seasons, so I've worked with Smriti there and obviously through that and since my appointment we've kept in touch and spent a fair bit of time talking through the type of team that we want to be and how we're going to go about it and the plans for the auction. So she's been integral in the planning for today."

Aditi Chauhan - unsold

Komalpreet Kour - unsold

Komal Zanzad - unsold

Haorungbam Chanu - unsold

Rekha Singh - unsold

USA's Tara Norris - unsold

Parunika Sisodia - unsold

Priya Mishra - sold to Gujarat Giants for INR 20 lakh

Sunanda Yetrekar - unsold

Sonam Yadav - unsold

Amisha Bahukhandi - unsold

Giants open bidding for Chandigarh's Kashvee Gautam at INR 10 lakh, RCB raise it to 15, Giants and RCB alternate. Kashvee’s bid quickly crosses INR 50 lakh, but RCB ain’t pulling back. They’re keen on taking this fight to the finish with the Giants.

At 75 lakh, a third entrant - UP Warriorz - raise the paddle, but Giants are seemingly going all out to get her as the bid crosses INR 1 crore. Warriorz take it to 1.1, but Giants raise the paddle even before the Warriorz have raised it fully. It goes to 1.2. Wry smiles in the Giants camp as they take it to 1.4. This has escalated quickly.

At INR 2 crore, there's a long pause. Warriorz in deep discussion. Giants wait patiently. And they will celebrate. Kashvee Gautam to Giants for INR 2 crore.

Who is Kashvee Gautam?

A right-arm seamer who can hit the long ball, Kashvee put herself into the record books in 2020 when she picked up a ten-wicket haul, including a hat-trick, in a one-day game for Chandigarh against Arunachal Pradesh at the women's domestic Under-19 competition. It led to a call-up for one of the teams in the now-erstwhile Women's T20 Challenge. Those feats have kept her in the books of several scouts.

Kashvee is a tall hit-the-deck bowler, who has worked on upping her pace based on feedback given by scouts after last year's WPL auction where she went unsold. She has been a steady, if not sensational, performer indomestic cricket. At the Senior Women's T20 Trophy, she picked up 12 wickets in seven games at an economy of 4.14. In June, she was part of India's triumphant Under-23 squad at the ACC Emerging tournament in Hong Kong. More recently, she was part of two games during the A series, picking up three wickets for India A.

Other uncapped Indian allrounders:

Legspinning allrounder Poonam Khemnar - INR 10 lakh to UP Warriorz

S Sajana to Mumbai Indians for INR 15 lakh

Gautami Naik - unsold

Amandeep Kaur to Mumbai Indians for INR 10 lakh

G Trisha - Member of India's Under-19 World Cup winning squad. Unsold.

Saima Thakor to UP Warriorz for INR 10 lakh

Raghvi Bisht unsold

Parushi Prabhakar unsold

Hurley Gala unsold

Nishu Choudhary unsold

Purse remaining INR crore
GG - 4.55
UPW - 2.4
RCB - 2.05
DC - 0.15
MI - 0.9

Scotland’s Sarah Bryce - UNSOLD

Aparna Mondal - INR 10 lakh to Capitals

UAE’s Teertha Satish - UNSOLD

Shivali Shinde - UNSOLD

Uma Chetry - UNSOLD

Drishya IV - UNSOLD

Trisha Poojitha - 10 lakh to Giants

Jasia Akhter - UNSOLD

Arushi Goel - UNSOLD

Ridhima Agaarwal - UNSOLD

Simrah Shaikh - Played for Warriorz, but was released. UNSOLD

G Divya - UNSOLD

Karnataka's Vrinda Dinesh comes in for bidding and Giants open it first. RCB come in quickly to take the bid to INR 15 lakh. Giants take it to 20, RCB make it 25. And well, well.....the price has zoomed to 50 lakh. Two teams tussling wildly. This is getting interesting.

After RCB and Giants, a third team enters the fray. Warriorz bid INR 65 lakh. Giants take it to 70, but Warriorz outbid. Giants are saying, nope we ain't giving up, and take it to 80 lakh. Who would've thought? Vrinda Dinesh is finally sold to UP Warriorz for INR 1.3 crore.

"A prolific scorer over the past two seasons, Vrinda has earned plaudits for her ability to blend consistency with her robust power-hitting up front. At 22, she has already broken through the ranks of India A, having recently been part of the squad that played three home games against England A.

Vrinda idolises Meg Lanning and has attended trials conducted by all five WPL franchises during the off-season. Earlier this year, she played a key role in Karnataka's run to the final of the Senior Women's one-day competition. She finished as the third-highest run-getter, behind Jasia Akter and Priya Punia, with 477 runs in 11 innings at 47.70. This included 81 in the semi-final against Rajasthan.

This is the second-biggest shocker to me after Chamari Athapaththu. She had a sensational WBBL season for the Adelaide Strikers, but doesn't find even a single bidder for the moment. Don't those performances count?

Preeti Bose, who played for RCB in the first season, goes unsold. Left-arm-spinner, had an economy of close to 10 an over. They instead pick Ekta Bisht, but it's not a done deal because Giants keep bidding. From a base price of INR 30 lakh, the bidding price has doubled. And that'll be her final price. Ekta Bisht to RCB.

Bisht played the last of her 42 T20Is in 2019, but has had an excellent domestic season. She's not your typical left-arm spinner. She bowls flatter, gets bite with the new ball and can bowl across phases.

Also in the unsold list:

Alana King
Gouher Sultana
Inoka Ranaweera

The South African pace spearhead Shabnim Ismail had a minimal role to play for the UP Warriorz in the inaugural edition. But Mumbai Indians and RCB waste no time in raising the paddle for one of the fastest bowlers in the women's game. RCB offloaded Megan Schutt, so they do need an overseas pacer. Surprisingly they bail out of the bidding, leaving Mumbai Indians and Giants to tussle.

Here's essential reading on Shabnim Ismail and the bowlers she dreamt of emulating growing up.

UNSOLD:

West Indian Shamilia Connell UNSOLD.

England’s Kate Cross - she was an expert for the inaugural edition. But she’ll have to give up that contract this time around as RCB pick her for INR 30 lakh.

New Zealand's Lea Tahuhu comes in first. An excellent swing bowler, but is seen to be at the far end of her career. UNSOLD.

Australia's Irish-born allrounder Kim Garth is next at the highest base price of INR 50 lakh. She was one of the surprise releases by the Gujarat Giants after the inaugural season. Surprisingly, she goes unsold.

India's Simran Dil Bahadur sees no bidders.

The Capitals came into the auction with the second-least purse of INR 2.25 crore. By going all out to secure Annabel Sutherland, they've exhausted INR 2 crore. They don't have much to do for until later in the auction when uncapped Indian players will be up for grabs. In any case, they only have two more slots to fill. But they're under no obligation to pick any more players.

PURSE REMAINING
INR crores
GG - 4.65
UPW - 3.7
RCB - 2.95
DC - 0.25
MI - 2.1

Bess Heath from England is first up. Goes Unsold

India's Sushma Verma who played for Giants, finds no interest

England's Amy Jones comes in next at INR 40 lakh. No takers

Tammy Beaumont lines up next at INR 30 lakh. Sorry, not interested yet.

Nuzhat Parveen, the India wicketkeeper, is also unsold.

No WPL 2023
No Hundred 2023
Led Sri Lanka to a historic T20I series win in England
Had a smashing WBBL season where she was Player of the Tournament
Came into the WPL with massive expectations. And guess what?

Could she have registered herself as a batter instead of putting herself in the allrounders' set? I still think she'll get picked later on. Maybe teams are waiting and watching, not wanting to exhaust their purse and get her later.

At 30 lakh, Meghna Singh has been snapped up at base price by the Giants. She is largely inexperienced, was touted to be the next big pace hope along with Renuka Singh. Has had her fair share of opportunities so far, but hasn't been able to nail her spot in India's XI. she's currently out of the T20I squad, but has been picked in the Test squad that will play England next week.

Capitals and Mumbai Indians going head to head for the Australia allrounder. She crosses the 1-crore mark quite comfortably. They're both still at it, even as the other three sides are watching the fierce bidding. Sutherland, remember, was released by the Gujarat Giants. Sutherland has finally been signed for INR 2 crore by Delhi Capitals

Sutherland her form around at the Women's Ashes - with a Test century and a crucial half-century in Australia's only ODI win. She flourished in the 2023 WBBL, scoring 288 runs - the most for Melbourne Stars - and picking up 23 wickets, joint third-most for the season. She led Australia in the last three matches in Meg Lanning's absence.

Unsold:
S Meghana attracts no bids as does West Indian Deandra Dottin, who was picked by Giants but didn't feature under controversial circumstances. Nadine de Klerk, the South Africa allrounder, goes unsold.

Wareham goes to RCB

Having released Dane van Niekerk, RCB have raised the paddle for Australia's legspinner Georgia Wareham. The bid is with them at INR 40 lakh, which is her base price. They won't be challenged further, so Warehem will wear red and gold.

India allrounder Devika Vaidya, who went for INR 1.6 crore last year to the UP Warriorz, surprisingly finds no takers for the moment. She goes unsold.

Veda Krishnamurthy and Priya Punia are two big Indian names in set-1 that have gone unsold for the moment. While Veda has fallen out of favour with the national team, Punia is very much in the mix. Both players were in with a great shout. Perhaps they will come back in during the accelerated rounds.

She didn't attract any interest during the inaugural edition. She was expected to be hot property this time around, but UP Warriorz would believe they've been able to get her for a steal. Danni Wyatt has been signed for her base price of INR 30 lakh.

Last week, ahead of her 150th T20I, Wyatt had spoken at length with ESPNcricinfo on where she thinks her career is at. In the first T20I the other night against India, she hit a sparkling half-century in England's win.

Unsold: Bharti Fulmali
Mona Meshram
Veda Krishnamurthy
Punam Raut
Naomi Stalenberg
Maia Boucher

First up are the capped batters. The first player to come up for bidding is Australia's Phoebe Litchfield.

At a base price of INR 30 lakh, she earns a first bid from Gujarat Giants. But the UP Warriorz are going wheel-to-wheel. After a bit of a tussle, the auction price has zoomed past the 60-lakh mark in no time. Both sides are still at it. Gujarat Giants eventually get her for INR 1 crore. Who is Litchfield?

In mid-2019 a social media clip of Litchfield, the left-handed batter, playing cover drives in the New South Wales nets as a 16-year-old went viral. Later that year, she made her state debut for New South Wales and WBBL debut for Sydney Thunder, in the latter scoring a half-century in her second game. Since then, her rise has been rather swift.

Litchfield scored third-most runs for Thunder in WBBL season that finished. She made her T20I debut last December against India and ODI and Test debuts this year. Cemented her place as Australia opener after Rachael Haynes' retirement.

Mithali Raj, Giants mentor: "The way we look at the composition of our XI, keeping that in mind, Litch was one of them and we got her in our first go."

Here's Andrew McGlashan, our Australia correspondent, on the batter: "Some chatter about Phoebe Litchfield being picked up for such a significant amount when a player such as Chamari Athapaththu has (so far) been overlooked. Litchfield has always been a huge talent, but has continued to evolve her T20 game rapidly this year, especially the power hitting. She kept Grace Harris out of the Australia side earlier this season and was used in the middle order where she struck a record-equalling 18-ball fifty at No. 6. Has developed into a full 360-degree player who could fill various roles in a batting order. She is also a brilliant fielder."

England are in India for a bilateral series. Later this evening, they'll look to seal the T20I series at the Wankhede Stadium. But five players from the squad will have one eye on the auction. Or will they? Amy Jones, the wicketkeeper, is one of them who will look to attract bids. What's going on in their camp? How will they be watching? Jones tells us.

Okay, so let's clear this for you.

Teams have the provision to play five foreign players in the XI, provided one of them is an Associate. For the inaugural edition, Delhi Capitals picked USA's Tara Norris, who picked up the season's first five-for. She ended with seven wicket in five games at an economy of 8.09. Which is why it was a tad surprising to find out she had been released ahead of the auction.

But Capitals have sound reasoning behind that move. Jonathan Batty, their head coach, explained that and much more to ESPNcricinfo.