Women's Premier League Auction: Gujarat Giants, RCB Look To Plug The Gaps

With the biggest purse going into the WPL auction on Saturday, last edition's wooden-spooner Gujarat Giants will look to plug the holes ahead of the 2024 edition of the league, while the four other teams will be keen to fine-tune their squads. Gujarat Giants finished fifth and last in the inaugural edition in March, while another high-profile team Royal Challengers Bangalore finished fourth. A total of 165 players -- 104 Indians and 61 overseas, including 15 from Associate nations -- will be in contention for the 30 spots, including nine for overseas in the Women's Premier League (WPL) mini-auction.

The auction will feature 56 capped and 109 uncapped players.

The second edition of the WPL will likely be organised in February-March ahead of the IPL. Unlike the inaugural edition, which was held in one city, the 2024 edition will take place in Mumbai and Bangalore.

Price talk

West Indies' Deandra Dottin, who was controversially excluded from the Gujarat Giants' squad ahead of the start of the first season on medical grounds, is one of the two players with the highest reserve price of Rs 50 lakh. Irish-Australian cricketer Kim Garth, who reportedly replaced Dottin in the Giants' squad, is the other player.

Australia all-rounders Annabel Sutherland and Georgia Wareham, who both played in the inaugural WPL, have a base price of Rs 40 lakh.

South Africa's Shabnim Ismail and England wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones are the other two cricketers with a base price of Rs 40 lakh.

Veteran Indian cricketers Veda Krishnamurthy, Poonam Raut, Sushma Verma, Ekta Bisht, Gouher Sultana and Mona Meshram are in the auction with a base price of Rs 30 lakh.

Australia's Erin Burns and Sophie Molineux, England's Danni Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont, Sri