Bengaluru, Dec 15: Mumbai cricketer Simran Shaikh became the costliest player of the Women’s Premier League mini-auction 2025, being bought by Gujarat Giants for Rs 1.90 crore even as veteran India player Sneh Rana went unsold here on Sunday.
On a day when five teams competed to fill 19 slots from a pool of 120 players to finalise their squads for next year’s WPL, the other top money earners were West Indies stalwart Deandra Dottin (Rs 1.70 crore – Gujarat Giants), 16-year-old U19 wicketkeeper-batter G Kamalini (Mumbai Indians – Rs 1.60 crore), Prema Rawat (Royal Challengers Bengaluru – Rs 1.20 crore) and N Charani (Delhi Capitals – Rs 55 lakh).
Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Giants were involved in a bidding war for Simran before the latter raised the bar to net her.
All-rounder Dottin, who is currently in India with the West Indies team for the white-ball series, was the costliest among overseas players and was bought by the Giants for the second time in the auction.
Dottin, 33, a veteran of 132 WT20Is, was one of the three players with base price of Rs 50 lakh and saw UP Warriorz too make a wholehearted bid for her before Gujarat Giants upped the amount.
Dottin was signed by Gujarat Giants for Rs 60 lakh ahead of WPL 2023, but could not play the tournament as the franchise failed to obtain a medical certificate before the season. Dottin had refuted the claims made by the franchise.
Tamil Nadu’s G Kamalini, 16, who struck a fine 44 in India’s victory over Pakistan in the U19 Women’s T20 Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, also secured her career’s biggest pay cheque of Rs 1.60 crore from Mumbai Indians during the auction.
The winners of the second edition of the WPL, Royal Challengers Bengaluru added Prema Rawat for Rs 1.20 crore.
No capped India player was bought during the auction, which included senior player Rana, who has captained Gujarat Giants in the first edition. (PTI)
