Sophies Molineux and Dunkley set maximum base price of ₹50 lakhs at WPL mini auction

Australian captain Sophie Molineux and English opener Sophie Dunkley are the only players to set the maximum base price of ₹50 lakhs for the Women's Premier League mini auction in Kochi on October 28. The BCCI-listed pool contains 146 players, while only 27 slots are available across the five franchises.

UP Warriorz enter the auction with the largest purse at ₹3.75 crore; Gujarat Giants have ₹1.25 crore available. Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru could spend ₹1.15 crore, Delhi Capitals have ₹1.1 crore and Mumbai Indians hold ₹90 lakh.

After Molineux and Dunkley, the highest base-price group includes G. Kamalini, Kiran Navgire and Australians Heather Graham and Jess Jonassen at ₹40 lakh. A set of prominent players are listed at the base price of ₹30 lakh, among them Chamari Athapaththu, Grace Harris, Chloe Tryon, Nonkululeko Mlaba and Sneh Rana.

The player pool comprises 27 overseas players, including six from associate nations. Of the 119 Indian entrants, 22 are capped internationals. Twenty slots at the mini auction are reserved specifically for Indian players.

Ahead of the auction, Mumbai Indians traded American left-arm seamer Tara Norris from UP Warriorz for ₹10 lakh. That transaction leaves UP Warriorz with eight slots to fill at the mini auction; Mumbai Indians could add six more players, while Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals could bid for five each and Gujarat Giants three.

RCB's Molineux celebrated the wicket of Delhi Capitals' Alice Capsey during the WPL-T20 final at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on March 17, 2024, a match referenced in the auction coverage.

The mini auction will be held in Kochi on October 28, when the five franchises will bid to fill the 27 available slots, with team purse sizes and the pre-auction trade of Tara Norris shaping spending options on the day.