Two top Indian female cricketers – Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana will represent two popular teams in the inaugural WPL.
The first-ever WPL player auction is currently ongoing. Five franchisees are trying to build the strongest squad they can to be a force to reckon with when the tournament begins.
We have seen how crucial domestic players are in the men’s IPL. A team that has a good bunch of domestic talent usually does well. Therefore, the WPL teams would have surely done their homework and penned down the names of certain domestic players they would have wanted in the squad.
It is important to note that while IPL allows 4 foreign players in the playing XI, WPL will permit teams to comprise of a maximum of 5 foreign players with one being from an associate nation.
Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana were expected to be two players to look out for in the auction.
Smriti was the first player in the auction. Royal Challenger Bangalore, Delhi Capitals, and Mumbai Indians tried hard to get the opening batter. In the end, Smriti went to RCB for 3.4 crores.
https://twitter.com/RCBTweets/status/1625063892069257217?s=20&t=357_E-0G3f4Frcpt7-3IDg
Harmanpreet Kaur came in at No. 2 and RCB started the bidding. However, DC and MI were the last two bidders going for the experienced right-handed batter. MI emerged victorious as they availed the services of Harmanpreet for 1.80 crores.
https://twitter.com/mipaltan/status/1625063027723866112?s=20&t=357_E-0G3f4Frcpt7-3IDg
Both Harmanpreet and Smriti will surely be the captains of their respective teams. MI and RCB have two of the biggest fanbases in the country and they are thrilled with the signings of two of the best batters of all time in Indian women’s cricket.
Twitter reactions
The WPL is scheduled to run between March 4 and March 26.
Let’s take a look at how the RCB and MI fans reacted after Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur joined their respective teams.
https://twitter.com/rohitsharma2503/status/1625064177332260864?s=20&t=357_E-0G3f4Frcpt7-3IDg
https://twitter.com/Barik7Nigam/status/1625064054632108032?s=20&t=357_E-0G3f4Frcpt7-3IDg
https://twitter.com/deepak_254/status/1625064035078242304?s=20&t=357_E-0G3f4Frcpt7-3IDg
https://twitter.com/cheeks4042/status/1625068326975324162?s=20&t=357_E-0G3f4Frcpt7-3IDg
https://twitter.com/CricCrazyDK/status/1625064459319521280?s=20&t=357_E-0G3f4Frcpt7-3IDg
https://twitter.com/ViratizedBl0ke/status/1625064178175328257?s=20&t=357_E-0G3f4Frcpt7-3IDg
https://twitter.com/mallichudam/status/1625064994323976193?s=20&t=357_E-0G3f4Frcpt7-3IDg
https://twitter.com/The_kafir_boy_2/status/1625063172561571840?s=20&t=357_E-0G3f4Frcpt7-3IDg
https://twitter.com/subhu__RO45/status/1625063194657185795?s=20&t=357_E-0G3f4Frcpt7-3IDg
https://twitter.com/Ctrlmemes_/status/1625063230824681473?s=20&t=357_E-0G3f4Frcpt7-3IDg
https://twitter.com/jeetkush25/status/1625063308075352066?s=20&t=357_E-0G3f4Frcpt7-3IDg
https://twitter.com/CricketWtf/status/1625063339805278210?s=20&t=357_E-0G3f4Frcpt7-3IDg
https://twitter.com/culnluvly/status/1625063717137436677?s=20&t=357_E-0G3f4Frcpt7-3IDg
https://twitter.com/girishreddyt12/status/1625066119915765761?s=20&t=357_E-0G3f4Frcpt7-3IDg
