WPL Auction 2023: Player auction list announced, 409 cricketers set to go under the hammer

The Women's Premier League will hold its maiden season in Mumbai from March 4 through March 26, 2023. The entire tournament will be hosted by two venues- the Brabourne Stadium and the D.Y. Patil Stadium, where a total of 22 games will be contested. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) revealed the player auction list and a total of 409 cricketers will go under the hammer.

The auction is set to take place on February 13 at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai. The inaugural Women's Premier League Player Auction attracted a whopping 1525 players in total, but only 409 made the cut to the final list. The five teams in the tournament are based out of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Lucknow and Mumbai.

Of the 409 players, 246 are Indian cricketers while the remaining 163 are the overseas players. There are a total of 202 capped players, 199 uncapped players and eight players from associate nations. With the five teams, there are a total of 90 slots available, 30 of which are designated for international players.

The maximum base price is INR 50 lakhs, and 24 players have chosen to be included in the top tier. The few Indians who have qualified for the top bracket are skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, all-rounder Deepti Sharma, and India's U19 World Cup-winning skipper and young sensation Shafali Verma.

Australian all-rounders Ellyse Perry, Ashleigh Gardner, Jess Jonassen, England all-rounder Sophie Ecclestone, New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine, and former West Indies cricketer Deandra Dottin, England’s Natalie Sciver, India’s pace sensation Renuka Singh Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Australian skipper Meg Lanning, Indian pacer Pooja Vastrakar, England’s opener Danni Wyatt, Australian wicketkeeper-batter Alyssa Healy, and Indian wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh are among the 13 foreign players registered in the INR 50 lakh reserve price.

A total of 30 players have a base price of INR 40 lakh, and the auction is slated to begin at 2:30 PM on February 13