Royal Challengers Bangalore won one of the first Women’s Premier League auctions by signing three huge names in international cricket, including Indian superstar Smriti Mandhana. Sophie Devine of New Zealand and Elysse Perry of Australia were the other two players. RCB signed the great opener for INR 3.4 crore. Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian skipper, has joined Mumbai Indians for INR 1.8 crore.
Smriti Mandhana was the first player to take the field, and she remains the most expensive purchase of the season, having been signed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for 3.4 crores. In the first round of bidding, RCB broke the bank by acquiring Australia and New Zealand stalwarts Ellyse Perry and Sophie Devine in addition to Mandhana. The Mumbai Indians have signed India captain Harmanpreet Kaur. After that, the Delhi Capitals had a busy second session, signing Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, and Meg Lanning.
“Everyone knows Mandhana and Perry, and we were fairly set on getting the couple of people we wanted. We are overjoyed to have such high-caliber players join us. Getting Mandhana, Perry, and Devine is a dream come true for us. “Smriti has much captaincy experience and is familiar with Indian circumstances, so [she’ll be captain] is quite likely,” said RCB Director of Cricket Mike Hesson.
Harmanpreet was the next player to be eliminated from the game. RCB was also interested in acquiring the Indian captain because they were the first to raise the paddle before Delhi Capitals joined the bidding battle. With a price of INR 1.2 crore, Mumbai joined the race to outbid Delhi. Before Mumbai settled the process, UP Warriorz threatened to take over the race with a bid of INR 1.7 crore.
Later, Royal Challengers Bangalore signed Perry for INR 1.7 crore and Devine for her base price of INR 509 lakh. While England all-rounder Sophie Ecclestone was purchased by UP Warriorz for INR 1.8 crore, Ashleigh Gardner joined Gujarat Titans for INR 3.2 crore.
