On Tuesday, February 7, the BCCI announced the players for the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 auction. Out of the total of 409 players, 246 Indians and 163 foreign players, including eight associate players, will be up for grabs. Each of the five franchises has the ability to sign up as many as 18 players, including six international players, with a salary cap of 12 crore rupees.
While a number of A-listers, including Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Ellyse Perry, and Sophie Devine, have listed themselves in the highest bracket of 50 lakh, a large number of others have chosen to slot themselves in at a lower base price. Among these people are Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Sophie Devine, and Ellyse Perry.
Let’s take a look at three international players who might have qualified for the WPL 2023 auction’s highest base price category of 50 lakh.
#1 Tahlia McGrath
Tahlia McGrath, the 2022 ICC Women’s T20I Player of the Year, is one of the best all-rounders in the world. She also led Australia toward the end of their series against India in December 2022, after a successful Commonwealth Games campaign.
She has, however, listed herself in the range of 40 lakhs, which is surprising given that she could have gone for the highest rung, which is 50 lakhs. tahila should get a big bid at the WPL 2023 auction because her name came out much earlier than some of the other names in the next sets.
#2 Beth Mooney
Beth Mooney, McGrath’s partner-in-crime in the Australian setup, is without a doubt one of the best women’s batters in the world. She will undoubtedly attract a lot of attention at the WPL 2023 auction due to her unmatched consistency and her versatility as a wicketkeeper.
Mooney finishing among the highest-earning overseas players by the end of the auction won’t come as a surprise. During the most recent Australian Cricket Awards, she also won the Belinda Clark Award for the best female Australian international.
#3 Marizanne Kapp
Marizanne Kapp’s absence from both marquee sets for the WPL 2023 auction was quite surprising. The superstar from South Africa is known for consistently delivering across all departments and is easily one of the best all-rounders in the world.
Kapp has been included in the second group of all-rounders and placed in the range of 40 lakh. Even though she came in much later in the auction, you’d think she would have gotten the same amount of interest as if she had listed for 50 lakh.