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. The WBBL's MVP, 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 other significant exclusions were of Deandra Dottin, the former West Indies captain, and Australia allrounder Kim Garth, who were among 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 (Royal Challengers Bangalore) among capped India players, while Veda Krishnamurthy (Giants) and S Meghana (RCB) went at base prices (INR 30 lakh) in the final accelerated round of auctions after finding no takers early on. Among the big Indian misses was Devika Vaidya, the allrounder, who was expected to be high on the wish list of teams. She was released by the Warriorz, who had bid INR 1.6 crore for her ahead of the inaugural season.
In what was a sharp auction where teams mostly looked to fill gaps, the Giants came in with the biggest purse after offloading more than half their squad. Having released four seam-bowlers - Sutherland, Garth, Mansi Joshi and Monica Patel - they went all out to secure the lanky 20-year-old seam-bowling allrounder Kashvee, who plays for Chandigarh.
Giants and RCB began an intense tussle before Warriorz swooped in at INR 75 lakh. They pursued the bid until the Giants pipped them right at the end to sign Kashvee at a record INR 2 crore. For perspective, Kashvee's bid was higher than the one Harmanpreet Kaur attracted (INR 1.8 crore) at the inaugural auction in February.
It was no surprise that Kashvee was in high demand, since skilled seam-bowling allrounders are a rarity. Kashvee is a swing bowler who has worked on improving her pace, based on feedback given to her after the inaugural auction in which she was unsold.
At the Senior Women's T20 Trophy last month, she picked up 12 wickets in seven games at an economy rate of 4.14. Since then, she has also gone on to play for India A in the recently-concluded home series against England A. In June, she was part of India's triumphant Under-23 squad at the ACC Emerging tournament in Hong Kong.
Like Kashvee, Vrinda has been on the radar of the selectors and scouts alike. In August, Vrinda trialled with all five franchises. RCB, the franchise from her home state, first raised the paddle before Giants entered the tussle to quickly elevate the bids. But it was Warriorz, who entered the bidding at INR 65 lakh, who stayed the course to finally sign her for INR 1.3 crore.
A prolific scorer over the past two seasons, Vrinda has earned plaudits for her ability to blend consistency with 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.
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 tournament's fifth-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.
Australia's Phoebe Litchfield was the first player up for grabs and was signed by Giants for INR 1 crore. The left-hander, who first broke through as a social media sensational as a 16-year-old in 2019, has had a dream run lately, finishing the WBBL as its third-highest run-getter. She began her international career in India last year, during the T20I series, and made the move up quickly.
She kept Grace Harris out of the Australia side earlier this season and was used in the middle order, from where she struck a record-equalling 18-ball fifty against West Indies. Earlier this year, she was handed Test and ODI caps.
Also among those who got onto the WPL bandwagon after finding no takers in the inaugural season were the England duo of Danni Wyatt (Warriorz) and Kate Cross (RCB). South Africa quick Shabnim Ismail went to the Mumbai Indians for INR 1.2 crore.
The second WPL season is set to be played in February 2024. The first season was played across three venues in Mumbai owing to logistical considerations. The BCCI hasn't yet made a decision on the venues for the second edition, although Mumbai and Bengaluru are believed to be in the running to host matches.