All five teams went head-to-head in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2023 auction, which was held in Mumbai on Monday, where 87 players were acquired in advance of the league's debut season.
A total of 59.5 crores were spent on players at the WPL auction, with India's Smriti Mandhana breaking records as the player who cost the most, fetching 3.4 crore to Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Ashleigh Gardner from Australia signed with Gujarat Giants for a whopping INR 3.2 crore, while Natalie Sciver from England moved to Mumbai Indians for the same sum, making her the joint-second most expensive signee.
While many players were able to fulfill their dreams after being selected in the WPL auction, other individuals were less lucky and were unable to find buyers, including some well-known professionals.
To the amazement of cricket fans worldwide, one such name that didn't sell at the WPL auction was England opener Dannielle Wyatt. Wyatt expressed her disappointment at not being chosen in the auction and said that she was “heartbroken.”
The 31-year-old has played in 140 T20I matches, has accumulated 2276 runs with an average of 21.27, and has a strike rate of 124.50. He also has a ton of experience.
However, as each WPL team was only permitted to choose six foreign players, several well-known names, like Alana King, Laura Wolvaardt, and Wyatt herself, remained unsold at the auction.
The English player confessed on Twitter following the WPL Auction that she urgently wanted to participate in the league and that “India is a fantastic country” to play cricket.
Playing in the WPL was a dream. Heartbroken, “Wyatt wrote. “Congratulations to everybody who were picked up,” she said. Cricket matches may be played in India quite well.”
Wyatt, who is now placed 16th in the ICC rankings, was unable to get a contract with the WPL, but she will be trying to assist England in winning the next T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2023.
