The player auction for the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League was held in Mumbai on Monday and it didn’t disappoint, with a number of cricketers bagging substantial bids and grabbing headlines. India’s star opener Smriti Mandhana was the most expensive player on the day as Royal Challengers Bangalore acquired her for an impressive Rs 3. 4 crore. Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner and England’s Natialie Sciver-Brunt were the most expensive overseas picks, going to Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians respectively for Rs 3. 2 crore each. Also read: WPL 2023 player auction, as it happened: Smriti Mandhana fetches top bid; Harmanpreet Kaur to MI WPL 2023 auction: From Smriti Mandhana to Jemimah Rodrigues – top 10 most expensive picks A total of 87 players were signed up in the auction by the five franchises, with 57 of them being Indian and 30 overseas. Unsurprisingly, the all-conquering Australian side saw the most picks with 14 in total, followed by England on 7. #WPL2023 #WPLAuction Breakdown of the 30-overseas players. Australia: 14 (Rs 14. 25 crore) England: 7 (Rs 7. 35 crore) South Africa: 4 (Rs 3. 10 crore) New Zealand: 2 (Rs 1. 5 crore) West Indies: 2 (Rs 1 crore) USA: 1 (Rs 10 lakh) https://t. co/r4P26fQHdv pic. twitter. com/BHcM9viUv8 — Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) February 13, 2023 Here’s a look at the number of players signed and funds remaining for each franchise at the end of the auction: Delhi Capitals : Funds Remaining Rs 35,00,000, Overseas Players 6, Total Players 18 Gujarat Giants : Funds Remaining Rs 5,00,000, Overseas Players 6, Total Players 18 Mumbai Indians: Funds Remaining 0, Overseas Players 6, Total Players 17 Royal Challengers Bangalore: Funds Remaining Rs 10,00,000, Overseas Players 6, Total Players 18 UP Warriorz: Funds Remaining 0, Overseas Players 6, Total Players 16 Now, let’s take a look at the full list of players signed by the five teams: Delhi Capitals Delhi Capitals started cautiously and took their time to get in on the action. But once they did, they made a number of impressive signings. Batter Jemimah Rodrigues, who played a starring role in India’s opening win against Pakistan at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, was their biggest buy at Rs 2. 2 crore. In Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey and Poonam Yadav, they got four more quality Indian internationals. While South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp, Australia’s Meg Lanning and more added overseas firepower. Lanning would be expected to lead a quite balanced side. All players recruited by Delhi Capitals Player name Reserve Price Rs Lakh Bid (In Rs Lakh) Times over base price Country State Association Age Specialism C/U/A Jemimah Rodrigues 50 220 4. 40 India MCA 22 Batter Capped Shafali Verma 50 200 4. 00 India HCA 19 Batter Capped Marizanne Kapp 40 150 3. 75 South Africa 33 All-rounder Capped Meg Lanning 50 110 2. 20 Australia 30 Batter Capped Alice Capsey 30 75 2. 50 England 18 All-rounder Capped Shikha Pandey 40 60 1. 50 India GCA 33 All-rounder Capped Jess Jonassen 50 50 1. 00 Australia 30 All-rounder Capped Laura Harris 10 45 4. 50 Australia 32 Batter Uncapped Radha Yadav 40 40 1. 00 India BCA 22 All-rounder Capped Taniyaa Bhatia 30 30 1. 00 India PCA 25 Wicketkeeper Capped Poonam Yadav 30 30 1. 00 India RSPB 31 Bowler Capped Sneha Deepthi 30 30 1. 00 India ACA 26 Batter Capped Arundhati Reddy 30 30 1. 00 India RSPB 25 All-rounder Capped Minnu Mani 10 30 3. 00 India KCA 23 All-rounder Uncapped Titas Sadhu 10 25 2. 50 India CAB 18 Bowler Uncapped Jasia Akhter 20 20 1. 00 India RCA 34 Batter Uncapped Aparna Mondal 10 10 1. 00 India TNCA 27 Wicketkeeper Uncapped Tara Norris 10 10 1. 00 USA 24 Bowler Associate Gujarat Giants In Ash Gardner, Beth Mooney and Annabel Sutherland, Gujarat Giants got three high class Australian cricketers in their ranks. The trio is part of the dominant Aussie team and will lend great stability to the squad. England’s Sophia Dunkley and West Indies’ Deandra Dottin are also quality overseas picks. Nooshin Al Khadeer, part of the GG support staff who knows India’s domestic talent better than most, later said that the franchise focussed on getting the right overseas talent early and then filled up the Indian slots. So in terms of Indian players, Giants might not have the superstars but they made some shrewd picks in the end. Sneh Rana was GG’s most expensive buy and is a potential leader, having worked closely with Al Khadeer at Railways. Harleen Deol, a regular in international cricket, was also added while the talented S Meghana and D Hemalatha could prove to be smart recruits in the coming weeks. The batting department, in terms of Indian talent, could prove to be a weakness. All players recruited by Gujarat Giants Player name Reserve Price Rs Lakh Bid (In Rs Lakh) Team Times over base price Country State Association Age Specialism C/U/A Ashleigh Gardner 50 320 GG 6. 40 Australia 25 All-rounder Capped Beth Mooney 40 200 GG 5. 00 Australia 29 Wicketkeeper Capped Sneh Rana 50 75 GG 1. 50 India RSPB 29 All-rounder Capped Georgia Wareham 30 75 GG 2. 50 Australia 23 All-rounder Capped Annabel Sutherland 30 70 GG 2. 33 Australia 21 All-rounder Capped Sophia Dunkley 30 60 GG 2. 00 England 24 Batter Capped Deandra Dottin 50 60 GG 1. 20 West Indies 31 All-rounder Capped Sushma Verma 30 60 GG 2. 00 India HPCA 30 Wicketkeeper Capped Tanuja Kanwer 10 50 GG 5. 00 India RSPB 27 All-rounder Uncapped Harleen Deol 40 40 GG 1. 00 India HPCA 24 All-rounder Capped Ashwani Kumari 10 35 GG 3. 50 India JSCA 25 All-rounder Uncapped Sabbineni Meghana 30 30 GG 1. 00 India RSPB 26 Batter Capped Mansi Joshi 30 30 GG 1. 00 India CAU 29 All-rounder Capped Dayalan Hemalatha 30 30 GG 1. 00 India RSPB 28 All-rounder Capped Monica Patel 30 30 GG 1. 00 India KSCA 23 Bowler Capped Hurley Gala 10 10 GG 1. 00 India MCA 16 All-rounder Uncapped Shabnam Shakil 10 10 GG 1. 00 India ACA 15 Bowler Uncapped Parunika Sisodia 10 10 GG 1. 00 India DDCA 17 Bowler Uncapped Mumbai Indians Mumbai Indians got the second-most expensive player in Nat Sciver-Brunt and also gained attention for acquiring India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, but at the end of the auction, one could say they were left a bit light in terms of batting. Pooja Vastrakar is a pace-bowling all-rounder with great potential while left-handed batter Yastika Bhatia is a regular for India. New Zealand’s leg-spinning all-rounder Amelia Kerr is a high class addition and West Indies’ Hayley Matthews is a proven batting all-rounder. MI did make some quality picks, including some fine all-rounders, but they could be caught lacking in certain areas. All players recruited by Mumbai Indians Player name Reserve Price Rs Lakh Bid (In Rs Lakh) Times over base price Country State Association Age Specialism C/U/A Natalie Sciver 50 320 6. 40 England 30 All-rounder Capped Pooja Vastrakar 50 190 3. 80 India MPCA 23 All-rounder Capped Harmanpreet Kaur 50 180 3. 60 India PCA 34 All-rounder Capped Yastika Bhatia 40 150 3. 75 India BCA 22 Wicketkeeper Capped Amelia Kerr 40 100 2. 50 New Zealand 22 All-rounder Capped Amanjot Kaur 30 50 1. 67 India PCA 22 All-rounder Capped Hayley Matthews 40 40 1. 00 West Indies 24 All-rounder Capped Heather Graham 30 30 1. 00 Australia 26 All-rounder Capped Isabelle Wong 30 30 1. 00 England 20 All-rounder Capped Chloe Tryon 30 30 1. 00 South Africa 29 All-rounder Capped Priyanka Bala 10 20 2. 00 India Uncapped Sonam Yadav 10 10 1. 00 India UPCA 15 Bowler Uncapped Dhara Gujjar 10 10 1. 00 India CAB 20 Batter Uncapped Jintimani Kalita 10 10 1. 00 India ASCA 19 All-rounder Uncapped Humairaa Kaazi 10 10 1. 00 India MCA 29 All-rounder Uncapped Neelam Bisht 10 10 1. 00 India PCA 26 All-rounder Uncapped Saika Ishaque 10 10 1. 00 India CAB 27 Bowler Uncapped Royal Challengers Bangalore If there was one franchise that set the stage on fire in the initial phase of the auction, it was Royal Challengers Bangalore. They started with a bang by locking Mandhana for the biggest sum, before quickly adding Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine and Renuka Singh as well. They then acquired Richa Ghosh, arguably the most promising young keeper-batter in world cricket at the moment, before adding even more depth with Heather Knight, Dané Van Niekerk and Megan Schutt. The star power in RCB is second to none and they will undoubtedly be one of the biggest attractions once the season begins. Their scouting in the domestic circuit was evident too as they added some impressive uncapped Indian picks during the middle-phase with the likes of Disha Kasat and Shreyanka Patil. All players recruited by RCB Player name Reserve Price Rs Lakh Bid (In Rs Lakh) Times over base price Country State Association Age Specialism C/U/A Smriti Mandhana 50 340 6. 80 India MACA 26 Batter Capped Richa Ghosh 50 190 3. 80 India CAB 19 Wicketkeeper Capped Ellyse Perry 50 170 3. 40 Australia 32 All-rounder Capped Renuka Singh 50 150 3. 00 India RSPB 27 Bowler Capped Sophie Devine 50 50 1. 00 New Zealand 33 All-rounder Capped Heather Knight 40 40 1. 00 England 32 All-rounder Capped Megan Schutt 40 40 1. 00 Australia 30 Bowler Capped Kanika Ahuja 20 35 1. 75 India PCA 20 All-rounder Uncapped Erin Burns 30 30 1. 00 New Zealand 28 Batter Capped Dané Van Niekerk 30 30 1. 00 South Africa 29 All-rounder Capped Preeti Bose 30 30 1. 00 India RSPB 30 Bowler Capped Komal Zanzad 10 25 2. 50 India VCA 31 Bowler Uncapped Disha Kasat 10 10 1. 00 India VCA 25 Batter Uncapped Indrani Roy 10 10 1. 00 India RSPB 25 Wicketkeeper Uncapped Shreyanka Patil 10 10 1. 00 India KSCA 20 All-rounder Uncapped Poonam Khemnar 10 10 1. 00 India NCA 28 All-rounder Uncapped Sahana Pawar 10 10 1. 00 India KSCA 26 Bowler Uncapped UP Warriorz They finished with the least number of players (16) in their squad, but UP Warriorz were perhaps the most impressive franchise at the auction early on. Deepti Sharma is one of the best spin-bowling all-rounders, Tahlia Mcgrath is one of the best pace-bowling all-rounders, Grace Harris is one of the most powerful hitters, and Sophie Ecclestone is arguably the best spinner in the world. Then there is the mouth-watering opening pair of Alyssa Healy and Shweta Sehrawat, pacer Shabnim Ismail’s experience, and the quality of left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad. Not to mention, the likes of Devika Vaidya, Anjali Sarvani, Kiran Navgire and Parshavi Chopra as well. The price paid for Vaidya ended their auction early but the UP team will surely be a force to reckon with. All players recruited by UP Warriorz Player name Reserve Price Rs Lakh Bid (In Rs Lakh) Times over base price Country State Association Age Specialism C/U/A Deepti Sharma 50 260 5. 20 India CAB 25 All-rounder Capped Sophie Ecclestone 50 180 3. 60 England 23 All-rounder Capped Tahlia Mcgrath 40 140 3. 50 Australia 27 All-rounder Capped Devika Vaidya 40 140 3. 50 India MACA 25 All-rounder Capped Shabnim Ismail 40 100 2. 50 South Africa 34 Bowler Capped Grace Harris 30 75 2. 50 Australia 29 All-rounder Capped Alyssa Healy 50 70 1. 40 Australia 32 Wicketkeeper Capped Anjali Sarvani 30 55 1. 83 India RSPB 25 Bowler Capped Rajeshwari Gayakwad 40 40 1. 00 India RSPB 31 Bowler Capped Shweta Sehrawat 10 40 4. 00 India DDCA 19 Batter Uncapped Kiran Navgire 30 30 1. 00 India NCA 28 Batter Capped Lauren Bell 30 30 1. 00 England 22 Bowler Capped Parshavi Chopra 10 10 1. 00 India UPCA 16 All-rounder Uncapped S. Yashasri 10 10 1. 00 India HYCA 19 All-rounder Uncapped Simran Shaikh 10 10 1. 00 India MCA 21 Batter Uncapped Laxmi Yadav 10 10 1. 00 India DDCA 25 Wicketkeeper Uncapped.