WPL Auction Season 2: Gripping Bidding Day Awaits As 165 Players Go Under The Hammer

The auction for the Women's Premier League season 2 has arrived as the five teams look to fill gaps in their teams by bagging the services of their desired players with the rival teams looking to derail the plans of other teams. The WPL auction will take place on Saturday in Mumbai and the representatives of the five teams - Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and UP Warriorz will look to bolster their teams.

This time an additional purse of Rs 1.5 crore will be made available to all the five teams besides the balance they are all left with from the last auction as well as after the recent player releases. Thirty slots, including nine overseas, will be filled at the auction.

Teams released their retention lists and overall 60 players were retained. Out of these 60 players, 21 were overseas stars. 29 players were released from their squads.

In the inaugural season of WPL, each team was given Rs 12 crore to build their squads. Only two teams, the champions Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz were able to make full use of this money.

This time, Giants, who attained a bottom-place finish in the inaugural season, have the highest purse of Rs 5.95 crore, as they had released half their squad. They have ten slots, including three overseas to be filled. Warriorz, who finished mid-table and qualified for playoffs, have Rs 4 crore as their purse, which they can use to fill up five slots, including an overseas player.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), a star-studded unit consisting of Smriti Mandhana, Sophie Devine, and Ellyse Perry, which failed to make an impact last year, has Rs 3.35 crore in their purse to fill up seven slots, including three overseas players. Delhi, the runners-up, have a