Team India Celebrates in South Africa As Smriti Becomes 1st Player to be Sold in WPL Auctions - WATCH

The cricket fans across the country have their eyes stuck on the Women’s Premier League (WPL) players’ auction on Monday, which is taking place in Mumbai. The much-awaited event is finally here and the anticipation is high as everyone wants to know which player fetches the biggest deal.

Not just the viewers but the players themselves are excited about the auctions. The members of the Indian women’s cricket team, which is currently in South Africa for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, were keenly watching the event when Smriti Mandhana went under the hammer.

WPL 2023 Player Auction Live Updates

After a fierce battle between RCB and MI, the Bengaluru franchise got the hold of the Indian vice-captain for a whopping sum of Rs. 3.80 crore, making her the first player ever to be sold at the WPL auctions.

In a video shared by Jio Cinema on Twitter, the Indian players could be seen celebrating the signing of Smriti. “Wholesome content alert! The first ever #WPL player @mandhana_smriti and her team-mates reacting to her signing with RCB,” the caption of the video read.

The Mumbai Indians were keen to have Smriti onboard as Neeta Ambani rose the paddle up even before auctioneer Mallika Sagar could finish her introduction to the cricket. However, after an intense bidding war with Royal Challengers Bangalore, they had to let go off her.

The RCB further bought the likes of Australia all-rounder Allyse Perry and New Zealand’s Sophie Devine

RCB Director of Cricket Operations, Mike Hesson was a happy man to have Smriti Mandhana and the other cricketers in the camp.

“We probably held more towards the back end I think everybody knows Smirit Mandhana. I guess it’s how much you’re willing to go, and you know we were pretty committed to a couple of people that we wanted to get, whether it’s because I happened earlier in the auction that people were a little bit weary of the budget.

“We’re very happy to get such quality players, obviously, Mandhana, Sophie Devine and Ellyse Peery in the first group was a dream result for us,” Hesson said.

Get the latest Cricket News here