Samaira Raghav, a 16-year-old all-rounder from Delhi, was picked by the Gujarat Giants at her base price of ₹10 lakh in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2027 auction held in Kochi, becoming one of the most talked-about young talents to emerge from the capital's domestic circuit. The teenager, born on 23 January 2010, was a late entry to the auction pool — one of four additions that expanded the list from 146 to 150 players just a day before proceedings began.

The Auction Moment

Samaira was not meant to watch the auction live. Her parents had urged her to stay away from the feed, wary that the emotional weight of the moment might be too much for a teenager who might go unsold. She was in Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, competing in the Under-19 Women's T20 Challengers tournament when she first learned of her inclusion — through an Instagram story, and then a message from her mother.

'My mom quickly messaged me that, 'I think you are in the auction list now,'' Samaira recalled. Five minutes before her name came up, she switched on the feed in her hotel room alongside a Team D room-mate. 'Then I saw my name and the Gujarat Giants paddle go up and I was just ecstatic. Both of us screamed at the top of our lungs in the hotel room. Then after that, it was just surreal,' she said.

A Family Dream Behind the Journey

Cricket runs deep in the Raghav household. Her father, Sunil Raghav, played as a leg-spinner until college before pivoting to academics — he holds an MBA from IIM Calcutta — and later built a career in technology leadership across Dow Chemicals, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, and Total (Arkema Global) in the US and India. 'I think it was his wish for himself to play cricket at India level. But he could not fulfill it. So, he kind of sees it in me now and I am working on it,' said Samaira.

Her mother, Puja Jain, spent a decade at McKinsey & Company, rising to partner and co-leading its sustainability practice, and holds two US patents from research at Penn State University and Dow Chemicals. Today the couple run ElementRe, a company specialising in end-to-end lithium-ion battery recycling. Puja serves as CEO and Sunil as CTO.

Samaira's earliest sport was sprinting — the 100m and 200m. At seven, her father took her to a cricket academy. The first session focused on fielding, and she was hooked. 'After that day, I just kept going to the academy with my own free will,' she said. During the Covid-19 lockdown, with batting impossible in their Gurugram housing society, Sunil used the downtime to coach her leg-spin. The bowling skill that later caught the Gujarat Giants' eye was built, in part, in a residential compound during a pandemic.

Building a Finisher's Game

Samaira trains under Dipti Dhyani, head coach of Delhi's senior women's team, at the City Cricket Academy in Hauz Khas, affiliated to the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) and competing under the name Sonnet. Initially an opener, she was pushed down the order as she played alongside seniors, and her coaches gave her a clear directive: learn to hit sixes.

'They told me that I should probably develop the skill to hit sixes. So, from there, we started working on it,' she said. She credits the evolution of women's cricket itself as motivation. 'The formats have become shorter and everybody is focussing more on power hitting in sixes. I also thought I would also learn and go with whatever trend is going on.'

Her role models are MS Dhoni and Richa Ghosh — two of India's most distinctive finishers across formats. The influence is visible in her numbers. In the Women's Delhi Premier League (DPL), playing for North Delhi Strikers, she scored a match-winning 32 off 26 balls against South Delhi Superstarz and an unbeaten 34 off 21 balls against East Delhi Riders, sealing the latter with a six off the penultimate delivery.

In the Under-19 Women's T20 Trophy, she accumulated 162 runs across seven innings at a strike rate of 216, averaging 54, with 14 fours and 12 sixes, dismissed only three times. In the ongoing Under-19 T20 Challengers, she struck 78 off 44 balls (six fours, six sixes) to rescue Team D from 27/3 after eight overs, and followed it with an unbeaten 24 off 12 balls in a high-pressure chase.

What Gujarat Giants Saw

Samaira attended trials for two franchises — Mumbai Indians in Mumbai and Gujarat Giants in Bengaluru. She described the latter as transformative. 'Gujarat Giants really took notice of me and my six-hitting abilities there in the camp. All of them gave me really positive feedback,' she said. Bowling coach Pravin Tambe specifically identified her spin-bowling potential. Her fielding, too, drew attention from the coaching staff — observers at the two-day camp reportedly noted that she struck the ball as hard as anyone present.

She also credited the DDCA and its president Rohan Jaitley for creating the platform through the DPL that brought WPL scouts to watch Delhi's players. 'Rohan Jaitley sir has made so many efforts for women to also be at the same level as men,' she said, noting that four to five Delhi players have found WPL berths this cycle.

What Comes Next

Samaira may face a scheduling overlap if she is selected for the Under-19 Women's World Cup, but she views the two opportunities as complementary rather than competing. 'I feel like I have a duty to my country if I get selected in the U19 World Cup,' she said. Her Instagram bio carries a line from Rahul Dravid: 'You don't play for revenge but play for respect and pride.' Before every match, her pre-game ritual ends with one specific song — 52 Bars by Karan Aujla. The frameworks are already in place; the next chapter is now hers to write.