As expected, all-rounders were in demand at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 auction in Bengaluru on Sunday. While West Indies Deandra Dottin was the costliest overseas buy at Rs 1.7 crore, uncapped Indian all-rounder Simran Shaikh was the most expensive player at Sunday’s auction, fetching Rs 1.9 crore. Both Dottin and Shaikh were sold to the Gujarat Giants. While G Kamalini, 16, got a jaw-dropping deal of Rs 1.6 crore, the highlight of the even was Gujarat’s bid for Shaikh.
Who is Simran Shaikh?
Simran Banu Shaikh, commonly known as Simran Shaikh, was born on January 12, 2002 in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. She was part of the UP Warriorz squad in the inaugural edition in 2022, but was released ahead of the next season owning to poor performance. The 22-year-old went unsold last season.
Simran’s father is an electrician. She has four sisters and five brothers. She first picked up cricket at the age of 15, playing with boys in her localty of Dharavi, Mumbai. However, Simran’s cricketing journey started after she joined the United Club.
After impressing in local leagues, Simran was selected in Mumbai’s U19 women’s team. Simran, 22, a middle-order batter, played a few matches for UP Warriorz during the 2023 WPL season. She has made 176 runs in 11 matches for Mumbai at 22 with a strike rate of 100.57 during the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy in October-November this year.
All-rounder Dottin, who is currently in India with the West Indies team for the white-ball series, was the costliest among overseas players and was bought by the Giants for the second time in the auction.
Dottin, 33, a veteran of 132 WT20Is, was one of the three players with base price of Rs 50 lakh and saw UP Warriorz too make a wholehearted bid for her before Gujarat Giants upped the amount.
Dottin was signed by Gujarat Giants for Rs 60 lakh ahead of WPL 2023, but could not play the tournament as the franchise failed to obtain a medical certificate before the season. Dottin had refuted the claims made by the franchise.
Gujarat Giants coach Michael Klinger, speaking to the broadcaster, said that both Dottin and Simran were on their radar for quite some time.
“We were targeting Dottin and Simran. They bring in power and batting at a high strike rate. That often creates a winning culture, so I’m really excited for our first two picks,” said Klinger.
(With PTI Inputs)
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