In the ongoing Women's Premier League auction, Chandigarh's Kashvee Gautam sparked a bidding war as franchises fought tooth and nail to win the the 20-year-old's signature. (WPL Auction Blog | December 9 Sports Blog)
However, after a few bids, Gujarat Giants finally landed their target as Gautam went to Beth Mooney-led side for a whopping INR 2 crore. Gautam's bidding did attract eyeballs as she attracted the highest-ever bid for an uncapped player in the WPL auction.
Talking about Gautam, she has attracted this bid for her record on the cricketing field. In 2020, she picked up a ten-wicket haul, including a hat-trick in a One-Day game for Chandigarh against Arunachal Pradesh at the Women's Domestic U-19 Competition. Her performance earned her a call-up to the Women's T20 Challenge.
She is a pacer who is known to hit the pitch hard, and in recent months, has upped her pace. At the Senior Women's T20 Trophy, she picked up 12 wickets in seven games at an economy of 4.14 Her recent feats include winning the ACC Emerging cricket tournament in Honk Kong where represented the India U-23 squad. She was also part of the India-A team, picking three wickets for India A against England A.
Talking about the WPL, Mumbai Indians pipped Delhi Capitals in front of a packed Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, closing the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League with a flourish. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side beat regular season league leaders Delhi in a tight game, finishing atop the five-time pile in the end.
The board has been reset since then. As teams gear up for the second edition of the WPL, 165 more players have entered the auction pot, hoping to add strength, steel, and skill to an existing pool of talented players. Out of the 165 players on offer, 104 are Indian while 61 are from overseas. Fifteen of those 61 are from associate nations, underlining the WPL's significant progress in just the second season of its existence. Furthermore, from the player pool, 54 have been capped by their respective countries, while 109 are still awaiting their first national call-up.
