WPL auction: Sneh among biggest names in the fray

By the time the first name comes up for the WPL’s mini-auction on Wednesday, the third ODI between India and Zimbabwe would have reached somewhere around the halfway mark in Vadodara. India’s middle-order batter Tejal Hasabnis is likely to be curious about what is happening at Grand Hyatt here.

She is one of the 146 players who will go under the hammer. In the only chance she got in the Zimbabwe series, she may have lasted only five balls, but last month she had done really well for India-A against the touring Australia-A.

So Tejal should interest some of the franchises. There could be even more interest in Sneh Rana, the off-spinning all-rounder released by Delhi Capitals.

Sneh is, in fact, among the biggest names at this auction. Others include Australia’s T20 World Cup-winning captain Sophie Molineux, her compatriots Grace Harris and Jess Jonassen, Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu and England opener Sophia Dunkley.

Among the capped Indian players are G. Kamalini, Kiran Navgire, Uma Chetry, Taniya Bhatiya, Saika Ishaque, Asha Sobhana, Priya Mishra, Titas Sadhu and Saima Thakor.

There are some interesting names among the uncapped Indians, too. Like the 16-year-old Ira Jadhav, who last year smashed an unbeaten 346 off 157 balls for Mumbai against Meghalaya in the Women’s Under-19 One-Day tournament. There are only 27 available slots — including 20 reserved for the Indians.

Going into the auction, UP Warriorz could well be a bit more excited, and anxious, than the other four franchises. Warriorz have the biggest purse of ₹3.75 crore. That is a lot more than Gujarat Giants (1.25 crore), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (1.15 crore), Delhi Capitals (1.1 crore) or Mumbai Indians (90 lakh).

It would be fascinating to see how Warriorz try to turn the auction into a mega opportunity.