WPL 2024 auction live timings today, remaining purse of all five teams

Women’s Premier League, which revolutionised the treatment of women’s cricket in India in its inaugural edition in 2023, will be back for the second edition in 2024. The teams were asked to submit a list of retained players and among the five teams, 60 players, including 21 overseas players, were retained. The players released and many other new names would go under the hammer on Saturday, December 9, 2023. The WPL auction will begin after 3 PM IST today. 

How many slots are available for teams to buy players in the WPL auction?

A maximum of 30 slots are available with the five teams, with 9 spots for overseas players.

How many players have registered for the WPL auction?

A total of 165 players, which includes 104 Indian and 61 overseas, have registered for the WPL auction. Among the 61 overseas, 15 are from the associate nations. And among the registered Indian players, 94 are uncapped, of which 9 are overseas as well. 

How many slots, and remaining purses does each team have in the WPL auction?

Gujarat Giants will have the biggest salary cap available to fill in 10 slots, while Delhi Capitals, who finished second best, will enter the auction with a purse of Rs 2.25 crore to fill up to three vacancies.

Defending champions Mumbai Indians have Rs 2.1 crore to fill five slots, while Royal Challengers Bangalore will look to pick seven players with a purse of Rs 3.35 crores and UP Warriorz will have Rs 4 crore purse to fill five spots at the auction.

What is the highest base price for players registered for the WPL auction?

Only two of the 165 registered players have kept their base price at Rs 50 Lakh, the highest for this year’s WPL auction. They are Deandra Dottin of the West Indies and Kim Garth of Australia. Among others, Aussie all-rounders Annabel Sutherland and Georgia Wareham, English wicket-keeper Amy Jones and veteran South African pacer Shabnim Ismail are the only four players to be slotted with a base price of Rs 40 lakh. 50 capped players have set their base price as Rs 30 Lakh while the lowest base price is Rs 10 Lakh. 

Which are the top 10 players to look out for?

With only 30 slots available and a little money left with teams, they would be looking to buy specialists and thus the top 10 players could fetch more money than the remaining 20. 

Chamari Athapaththu- Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan legend, Chamari Athapaththu has achieved everything she could have and yet she was unsold in last year’s auction. The second-highest run-getter in this season’s Women’s Big Bash League, 33-year-old Chamari has a hundred and eight fifties to her name in T20Is and eight hundreds in ODIs. She is sure to get a buyer this time around and she might be the most expensive as well. 

Deandra Dottin- West Indies

Another legend in the making, Deandra Dotton of West Indies missed the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League due to a bizarre pre-season incident where she failed to obtain medical clearance. Dottin is one of the veterans of the game. The West Indian all-rounder, who has played 127 T20Is and has 2697 runs and 62 wickets to her name, made her way to GG for INR 60 Lakh. 

Annabel Sutherland- Australia

Big Sutherland from Melbourne has played 23 ODIs and 22 T20Is for the Aussie women and she has to her name an ODI hundred and a Test century as well. Recently, she has shown great improvements in her bowling and picked up 23 wickets in 14 matches in WBBL. 

Amy Jones- England

Once just a wicket-keeper, Amy Jones has come out of the shadows of more accomplished English players and is making a name for herself. With experience playing international cricket for more than a decade, the English woman has her name more than 2000 international runs in white-ball format and is one of the best hands behind the stumps. With her newly developed leadership skills and big-hitting prowess courtesy of which she has regularly struck over 150 in the WBBL, Jones is going to be one big catch for the franchises. 

Sophie Day- Australia

Another WBBL breakout star is Sophie Day. Yet to make her international debut, the 25-year-old left-arm orthodox spinner from Victoria is the talk of the town in Australian women’s cricket. She has picked up 27 wickets in just 14 matches in WBBl at an average of 12.48. On Indian pitches, with more purchase on offer for spinners, she is sure to get picked by the teams. 

Shabnim Ismail- South Africa

Veteran Proteas women pacer, Shabnim Ismail is still worth her weight in gold as she can execute yorkers and bouncers at will. At 35, she has taken 314 international wickets and is hungry for even more. Fresh from WBBL where she got 13 wickets in 14 games, Ismail would be hoping her experience pays her well.

Bhavna Goplani- India

Only nine overseas players can be accommodated in each team and hence the remaining 11 have to be Indian. One among the 21 could be Bhavna Gopalani from Gujarat. Coming off a great Inter-Zonal T20 trophy, where she scored 112 runs in only three innings and could never be dismissed, Bhavna can both bat and ball. 

Ekta Bisht- India

Veteran Ekta Bish will once again be in the reckoning with her left-arm spin. Bisht, who has played 106 internationals including a Test for India, did well in the inter-zonal tournament where she finished as the top-wicket taker with eight scalps and five games for Central Zone. The 37-year-old from Almora Uttar Pradesh, who made her international debut 12 years ago in 2011, has 156 international wickets to her name. 

Devika Vaidya- India