Victory Dividend

Post their triumphant ODI World Cup campaign, Indian women cricketers raked in the moolah at the Women's Premier League auction

- By KATHAKALI CHANDA

From the ODI World Cup to the Women's Premier League (WPL) auction, Deepti Sharma is on a roll. Within a month of winning the Player of the Tournament trophy in India's victorious ODI World Cup campaign, the spunky all-rounder produced fireworks off the field, emerging as the most expensive player at this year's WPL auction.

At a price tag of 3.2 crore, the Agra-born player became the second-most expensive player in the history of the league—next only to her national colleague Smriti Mandhana, who was lapped up by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for 3.4 crore in 2023. Sharma now shares the No 2 spot with Australian all-rounder Ash Gardner and English captain Nat Sciver-Brunt.

Sharma's maiden bid, at her base price of 50 lakh, came from Delhi Capitals (DC)—it stayed uncontested for a few heartstopping minutes before UP Warriorz (UPW), her team for the first three seasons, played the RTM (Right To Match) card to bring her back.

Power-packed performances are nothing new for Sharma. The 28-year-old is the first Indian woman to cross both 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in T20Is, and was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in WPL 2024. Yet she has always remained at the fringes of public conversation. The recent World Cup—where Sharma became the first ever cricketer to score 200+ runs and take 20+ wickets in a single edition—has changed that.