After years of contemplation and the immense success of the Men’s Indian Premier League, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has decided to launch the Women’s Indian Premier League (WIPL).
In the inaugural edition of the T20 Championship, a total of five teams namely Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Lucknow, and Ahmedabad will be fighting with each other for the illustrious title.
Before the much-awaited tournament that will run from March 04 to March 26 in Mumbai, the five franchises will be crossing swords with each other on the auction table. The auction scheduled for February 13 at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai will see a total of 246 Indian and 163 overseas players going under the hammer.
Out of 409 players selected for the auction, there are a handful of players, especially the batters, who can cause an intense bidding war among the franchise owners. Let us take a look at five batters who can earn a handsome amount of money on Monday:
#5 Jemimah Rodrigues
Within a short span in her international cricket career, the 22-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues has established herself as the next big thing in the Indian Women’s cricket team. Making her debut for the Women in Blue in 2018 in the One Day Internationals and the T20 Internationals, the classy opening batter immediately made headlines and is one of the most talked-about players in India.
The young batter from Mumbai has represented the Indian team in 75 T20 Internationals so far scoring 1575 runs at an average of 29.7 and a strike rate of 112.7. Rodrigues looked good in her latest outing as well for the Indian team.
India recently played in the tri-series against West Indies and South Africa where they reached the final but ended up losing by five wickets. The tour saw Jemimah performing decently by scoring runs at an average of over 28 in five matches.
The 22-year-old’s exemplary international stats are a testimony to the fact that she will be a key player in the inaugural edition of the Women’s Indian Premier League. Jemimah Rodrigues has put herself in the top bracket by keeping her base price at INR 50 lakhs and the franchises will not mind spending a truckload of money on the batter.
#4 Meg Lanning
One overseas player who is expected to make the most headlines during the Women’s IPL auction that will be conducted on February 13 at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai is Meg Lanning. A veteran of the game, Lanning forms the backbone of Australia’s batting line-up across all the formats since 2010.
Over the years, she has proved herself as a trustworthy captain and a run-scoring batter and thus the franchises will be eager to capitalize on her experience and talent. The 30-year-old is the second-highest run-scorer in the history of Women’s international cricket in the T20 Internationals.
In her cricket career of over a decade, Meg has played for Australia in 126 T20I scoring 3256 runs at an average of 36.2 and a strike rate of over 116.5. The batter also has a repertoire of playing on Indian pitches and thus will be an ideal pick for the IPL franchises.
#3 Shafali Verma
A lot of franchises will have their eyes set on Shafali Verma as the 19-year-old has been absolutely lethal with the bat in the past few years for the Indian team. The youngest-ever to play T20I cricket for India, Verma has been gaining a lot of limelight lately owing to her exemplary performance in the Women’s Under 19 World Cup.
The Rohtak-born was the one leading the Indian team as they defeated England Women in the final by seven wickets to lift the glorious trophy. In the 20-over tournament, apart from her leadership skills, Shafali Verma also flaunted her batting talent.
She emerged as the second-highest run-scorer for India and third overall behind Shweta Sehrawat and Grace Scrivans with 172 runs to her name in seven matches at an average of 24.57.
As far as her international records in the shortest format of the game are concerned, Shafali has worn the blue jersey 51 times, accumulating 1231 runs at an average of 24.6 and a stunning strike rate of 134.5. By including the 19-year-old in their team, the IPL franchises can benefit in two ways as they will not only get a reliable top-order batter but also a potential leader for their team.
#2 Suzie Bates
The former captain of the New Zealand Women’s cricket team, Suzie Bates is also likely to fetch a lot of buyers during the Women’s IPL auction. The 35-year-old has a lot of expertise in the T20I format as she is ruling the run-scoring charts in Women’s international T20I runs. With 3683 runs in 139 T20 Internationals at an average of 29.2 and a strike rate of 109.3, Bates is at the top of the table.
What makes Bates more efficient are her splendid BBL records. She has scored a total of 2056 runs in Australia’s domestic T20 tournament in 84 matches at an average of 28. Over the years, the 35-year-old has played a big role in the success of the franchise Perth Scorchers Women.
For the auction, the New Zealand star has registered herself at the base price of INR 30 lakhs and, as per our prediction, she will end up as one of the highest-paid players of the inaugural edition of the T20 extravaganza.
#1 Smriti Mandhana
At first place in this esteemed list is India’s Smriti Mandhana. There is no doubt that the top-order batter is one of the best things to have happened to India’s Women’s cricket in the past decade. After the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Mandhana is the second-highest run-scorer for India in the T20 Internationals.
In her international career of almost a decade, the 26-year-old has smacked 2651 T20I and 3073 ODI runs for India in 112 and 77 matches respectively at an average of 27.3 and 43.3. Mandhana will be at the top of buying list for all the franchises as she was also awarded the Best Women’s International Cricketer in 2018 by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Moreover, apart from her expertise and batting talent, the young superstar will also be bringing a lot of attention and fans to the franchise, as she is one of the most popular female cricketers in India.