[Source: Reuters]

All-rounder Deepti Sharma, whose player-of-the-tournament performance helped India win the World Cup earlier this month, fetched the highest price at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction, while Australia captain Alyssa Healy, one of the marquee players up for grabs, went unsold.

UP Warriorz used a “right to match” option to equal Delhi Capitals’ bid of 32 million rupees ($358,000) to re-sign 28-year-old Sharma on Thursday, as five franchises spent a total of 408 million rupees ($4.5 million) to sign 67 players ahead of the fourth edition of the Twenty20 league.

New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr was the second most expensive player at the auction held in New Delhi, snapped up for 30 million rupees by defending champions Mumbai Indians, for whom she has played since 2023.

Mumbai, two-time winners of the Indian T20 league, have retained five players, the maximum number of pre-auction retentions allowed by the WPL, including India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, as they looked to keep their core intact ahead of the title defence.

But wicketkeeper-batter Healy, who had played for UP last year, was the shock of the evening as she was the only one among the eight marquee players to go unsold.

UP also splurged on two more former Delhi players, picking up Indian all-rounder Shikha Pandey for 24 million rupees and Australian top-order batter Meg Lanning for 19 million rupees.

New Zealand all-rounder Sophie Devine, who skipped the WPL’s 2025 edition, was the subject of an intense bidding war involving three teams including her former side Royal Challengers Bengaluru, before being secured by Gujarat Giants for 20 million rupees.

Delhi, who have lost three WPL finals in a row, were restrained with their bidding after retaining five players, including Indian internationals Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma.

They signed Shree Charani and Chinelle Henry for 13 million rupees each, and also picked up South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt for 11 million rupees.

The WPL’s 2026 edition is set to take place from January 9 to February 5 in Navi Mumbai and Vadodara. The final will take place two days before India co-hosts the men’s T20 World Cup with Sri Lanka.

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