Royal Challengers Bangalore went all guns blazing to acquire the services of India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana for the inaugural season of Women’s Premier League. First player to be up for grabs, Mandhana allured RCB in breaking the bank for her at the auction table.
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It wasn’t a surprise that Mumbai-based Mandhana first earned a bid from Mumbai Indians. Within no time, the left-handed batter’s price went up from INR 50 lakh (base price) to INR 3.4 crore to become the costliest player today.
With franchises having already spent quite a lot of money after a few rounds of the auction from their allowed budget of INR 12 crore, one doesn’t expect any other player to surpass Mandhana as far as the commercial element is concerned.
Seventh-highest run-scorer in the history of Women’s T20Is, Mandhana has scored 2,651 runs at an average of 27.32 and a strike rate of 123.13 including 20 half-centuries (third-highest).
Indian cricketers cheer for Smriti Mandhana in heart-warming video
Mandhana, 26, missed the recently concluded India-Pakistan ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Cape Town but she didn’t miss the action happening during the ongoing auction. Mandhana and all other Indian cricketers, part of the current World Cup squad, sat together to watch the proceedings at the auction table.
A viral video uploaded by host broadcaster Jio Cinema sees all other players cheering and shouting for Mandhana urging the owners to further increase the amount. “Badhao, uthao [Increase the amount, lift the paddle],” enthusiastic Indian women’s cricketers can be heard calling at the top of their voices.
Mandhana was followed by India captain Harmanpreet Kaur as the latter was snapped for INR 1.8 crore by Mumbai Indians. India all-rounders Deepti Sharma is also among the most expensive players on the back of getting sold for INR 2.6 crore to UP Warriorz.
Both bought by Delhi Capitals, India batters Jemimah Rodrigues (INR 2.2 crore) and Shafali Verma (INR 2 crore) also managed to touch the INR 2 crore-mark.
