WPL 2025 Auction: Deandra Dottin, Simran Shaikh, G Kamalini & Prema Rawat Become Top Picks
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Bengaluru, Dec 15 (NationPress) The WPL 2025 Auction, hosted at ITC Gardenia in Bengaluru on Sunday, witnessed Deandra Dottin, Simran Shaikh, G Kamalini, and Prema Rawat receiving lucrative deals.
In a competitive bid for the explosive West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin, who was among the few players listed with a reserve price of Rs 50 lakh, Gujarat Giants (GG) and UP Warriorz engaged in a heated contest, ultimately securing her services for a whopping Rs 1.7 crore.
Meanwhile, the auction's highlight was the impressive contracts awarded to uncapped Indian talents. Simran Shaikh, previously with UP Warriorz during WPL 2023, emerged as the most expensive uncapped Indian player after GG acquired her for Rs 1.9 crore, defeating Delhi Capitals (DC) in the process. Simran played a vital role in the triumphs of Mumbai and India E in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy and Challenger Trophy, respectively.
Acquiring the dynamic wicketkeeper-batter G Kamalini, who scored an unbeaten 44 in India's nine-wicket victory over Pakistan in the U19 Asia Cup, Mumbai Indians (MI) invested Rs 1.6 crore following a fierce bidding war with DC. MI had previously assessed Kamalini during their pre-auction trials, leading them to aggressively pursue her.
Kamalini, a 16-year-old from Madurai, developed her skills at the Super Kings Academy in Chennai. She garnered attention by amassing 311 runs in eight matches as Tamil Nadu clinched the U19 Women’s T20 Trophy in October. She will serve as MI's second wicketkeeper-batter alongside Yastika Bhatia.
Another significant uncapped player to secure a notable contract was Uttarakhand all-rounder Prema Rawat, who was picked up by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for Rs 1.2 crore. Prema, a leg-spin bowler, played an instrumental role in the Mussoorie Thunders' victory in the inaugural Uttarakhand Premier League (UPL) this year.
Although DC couldn't land Kamalini, they successfully acquired Uttarakhand wicketkeeper Nandini Kashyap for her base price of Rs 10 lakh. Nandini recently received her first call-up to the T20I squad against the West Indies. She was the leading run-scorer in the Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy and finished as the third-highest run-getter in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy while representing Uttarakhand this season. She will join Taniyaa Bhatia and Scotland’s Sarah Bryce in DC's wicketkeeping lineup, the latter also recruited for Rs 10 lakh.
DC and MI were also engaged in a bidding war for uncapped Indian all-rounder N Charani, a left-arm spinner, before DC secured her for Rs 55 lakh. Additionally, MI added South African all-rounder Nadine de Klerk for Rs 30 lakh.
In the first accelerated round, UP Warriorz selected uncapped batter Arushi Goel and all-rounder Kranti Goud for Rs 10 lakh each. MI also acquired uncapped Indian all-rounder Sanskriti Gupta for Rs 10 lakh, while RCB picked India U19 pace bowling all-rounder Joshitha VJ for the same price. Notably, Joshitha had participated in RCB's pre-auction trials.
UPW filled their last overseas position by signing Australian leg-spinner Alana King for Rs 30 lakh, while RCB finalized their team by acquiring uncapped Indian all-rounder Raghvi Bist, currently in India's T20I squad against the West Indies, along with another uncapped spinner Jagravi Pawar for Rs 10 lakh each.
DC made another savvy acquisition by signing India U19 captain Niki Prasad for Rs 10 lakh, after she previously went unselected, while MI secured uncapped Indian all-rounder Akshita Maheshwari for Rs 20 lakh. Akshita impressed scouts during MI trials.
The auction concluded after two hours and 20 minutes with GG selecting England all-rounder Danielle Gibson for Rs 30 lakh and adding uncapped Indian spinner Prakashika Naik for Rs 10 lakh.
The auction also saw several notable capped players, including Sneh Rana, Heather Knight, Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Darcie Brown, Laura Harris, Kim Garth, Sarah Glenn, Shubha Satheesh, Sushma Verma, Lauren Filer, Mansi Joshi, Lizelle Lee, and Rosemary Mair fail to secure contracts with any of the five WPL teams.
Here are the complete WPL squads following the auction:
Delhi Capitals: Alice Capsey, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Jess Jonassen, Marizanne Kapp, Meg Lanning (c), Minnu Mani, Radha Yadav, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sneha Deepthi, Taniyaa Bhatia, Titas Sadhu, Annabel Sutherland, Nandini Kashyap, N Charani, Sarah Bryce, and Niki Prasad.
Gujarat Giants: Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney (c), Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Laura Wolvaardt, Shabnam Shakil, Tanuja Kanwer, Phoebe Litchfield, Meghna Singh, Kashvee Gautam, Priya Mishra, Mannat Kashyap, Bharti Fulmali, Sayali Satghare, Deandra Dottin, Simran Shaikh, Danielle Gibson, and Prakashika Naik.
Mumbai Indians: Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Chloe Tryon, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Hayley Matthews, Jintimani Kalita, Natalie Sciver, Pooja Vastrakar, Saika Ishaque, Yastika Bhatia, Shabnim Ismail, Amandeep Kaur, Sajeevan Sajana, Keerthana Balakrishnan, Nadine de Klerk, G. Kamalini, Sanskriti Gupta, and Akshita Maheshwari.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Smriti Mandhana (c), Sabbineni Meghana, Richa Ghosh, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Wareham, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Sophie Devine, Renuka Singh, Sophie Molineux, Ekta Bisht, Kate Cross, Kanika Ahuja, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Prema Rawat, Joshitha VJ, Raghvi Bist, and Jagravi Pawar.
UP Warriorz: Alyssa Healy (c), Anjali Sarvani, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris, Kiran Navgire, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shweta Sehrawat, Sophie Ecclestone, Tahlia McGrath, Vrinda Dinesh, Saima Thakor, Poonam Khemnar, Gouher Sultana, Chamari Athapaththu, Uma Chetry, Arushi Goel, Kranti Goud, and Alana King.
