It was an history making day for Indian women’s cricket. Monday 13th February, was the day when the 1st ever Women’s IPL auction took place. Over 200 players went under the hammer. This was the pre-cursor to the inaugural edition of Women’s IPL which has been in the works for a long time. There was anticipation, hope, happiness and sadness above all there was a constant cheer in the room as Indian women made history.
The story as it happened –
Indian women beat Pakistan in their opening game of the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 world cup. The entire team had assembled to watch the proceedings which was happening across in India. There was a huge screen put up for the players and the players assembled to watch history unfold. This was the first time the players had gone under the hammer for the Women’s IPL scheduled to begin soon.
Smriti Mandhana makes history –
The first player to make her way out for auction was none other Smriti Mandhana. The left handed opening batter was priced 50 Lakhs as base price. The very first player off the bag saw heavy bidding and battle take place. Finally Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore went head to head for Mandhana.
Teammates cheers as an emotional Mandhana heads to Bangalore –
The entire Indian women’s team was cheering in each bid and every move as the things became intense. The bidding room at the auction finally saw RCB come out trumps and get Mandhana for INR 3.4 Crores. The left handed batter was overcome with joy as she got up from her chair and was flanked by her teammates.
Here we go 🔥 Fireworks on the first ball itself! 🎇
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) February 13, 2023
Smriti Mandhana goes for INR 3.40CR to #RCB #WPLAuction
Harmanpreet Kaur is blue and gold –
Mumbai Indians on the other hand can boast of having in its ranks the Indian national team captains. On Monday, Mumbai Indians got Indian women’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur for INR 1.7 crores. It was a huge move for Ambani led franchise as they had missed out on Mandhana to RCB earlier.
The elation amongst the players was understandable as they get ready for their next match of the ICC Women’s; T20 world cup.