Trivia: Smriti Mandhana’s WPL salary is higher than Babar Azam’s PSL salary? Mandhana was recruited by RCB for a hefty INR 3.4 crore at the WPL 2023 auction.
The first-ever Women’s Premier League auction took held in Mumbai on February 13, 2023, making it a momentous day for the cricketing globe. The historic event has 449 participants shortlisted, and the inaugural round is expected to begin on March 4. Smriti Mandhana, India’s vice-captain, was the first name to go under the hammer, landing a huge INR 3.4 million deal with the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The auction began with a bidding battle between RCB and Mumbai Indians. As both clubs went all out to secure the headline talent. Mandhana eventually sign by the Bangalore-based club, making her the most expensive player in the WPL 2023 auction.
Mandhana’s WPL pay of INR 3.4 crore is significantly more than Pakistan captain Babar Azam’s Pakistan Super League compensation. The powerful Pakistani batter, who will represent the Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL 2023, will earn INR 1.38 crore, far less than the Indian opening star would earn in the inaugural WPL.
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RCB go big at the WPL 2023 auction
With the acquisition of Smriti Mandhana by RCB, the prolific Indian opener will be among the team’s captaincy choices. In the absence of all-format skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, she has guided India to victory on multiple occasions. Even during the Asia Cup in October 2022, she grabbed the captaincy and guided India to a handful of triumphs.
On Monday, RCB conducted a highly clever auction in the WPL. They spent over half of their INR 12 crore budget on Mandhana, Australia’s ace all-rounder Ellyse Perry, and New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine in the first round. They then spent large sums of money to add India’s U-19 winning player and ace wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh and India’s pace wonder Renuka Singh Thakur to their side.
RCB then sat calmly through most of the bidding rounds until jumping back during the expedited auction. To round up their roster, they recruited English skipper Heather Knight, South African skipper Dane van Niekerk, and Australia’s speed spearhead Megan Schutt.
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