Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana was the first player to go under the hammer at the inaugural Women’s Premier League 2023 player auction, with Royal Challengers Bangalore spending a jumbo INR 3.4 crores to secure the services of the southpaw.
RCB warded off stiff competition from Mumbai Indians to bag the Indian opener, who was the highest buy in the first marquee player set. The Bengaluru-based franchise further added two stars to their roster – Australia allrounder Ellyse Perry for INR 1.7 crore and New Zealand captain Sophie Devine at INR 50 lakhs base price, which can be termed a steal.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur was incidentally the second name picked at the auction, and Mumbai Indians signed her on for INR 1.8 crores. Mumbai went on to add a couple of more allrounders from the marquee set – splurging INR 3.2 crore on Nat Sciver-Brunt and INR 1 crore on New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr.