India's World Cup hero Deepti the costliest buy at WPL auction

Deepti Sharma, the Most Valuable Player of the Women's ODI World Cup that India won beating South Africa at Navi Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium earlier this month, emerged as the costliest player of the 2026 Women's Premier League auction in the Capital on Thursday. Other World Cup standout performersIndia spinner N Shree Charani and South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt, also walked away with hefty pay cheques. The five franchises spent ₹40.8 crore on 67 players at the auction. The fourth edition of the WPL will be held in Navi Mumbai and Vadodara, from Jan 9 to Feb 5.

- Samreen Razzaqui

UP Warriorz delivered the first talking point at the auction, snapping up Deepti for a whopping ₹3.2 crore snatching her away from Delhi Capitals through their Right to Match card - a move that instantly signalled a franchise determined to reinvent itself. "There's a premium you pay for high-quality all-rounders. There was no doubt that we wanted Deepti back," Kshemal Waingankar, Director of Cricket Operations for the Warriorz, said.

With a clean slate and a new vision under head coach Abhishek Nayar, the Warriorz set the tone for the day, building boldly around Deepti before adding Australian opener Phoebe Litchfield (₹1.2 Cr), re-buying Sophie Ecclestone (₹85 lakh) for a steal, and strengthening their Indian core with Asha Sobhana (₹1.1 Cr), Kiran Navgire (₹60 lakh), Harleen Deol (₹50 lakh) and Kranti Gaud (₹50 lakh). Warriorz also went after the experienced seamer Shikha Pandey for a whopping ₹2.4 Cr and landed a late bid for Indian opener Pratika Rawal (₹50 lakh) and India U-19 star G Trisha (₹10 lakh).