Delhi: An auction in which 14 of the 19 available slots went to uncapped Indian cricketers was bound to have an impact on the capped Indian players and a few other senior foreigners when the market remained largely cold during the first set of 12 capped players. It was evident that the big names should be ready for a shock. Top 5 which no one bought:
In the unsold group, the most surprising name is that of England captain Heather Knight. She also bowls off-break with her right hand. Whereas, she was a contender for the captaincy of Royal Challengers Bangalore team in 2023. Did not play in 2024 to concentrate on international cricket. T20 International Record: 2121 runs and one 100 in 112 matches. The base price of the right-handed batsman was Rs 50 lakh. Led England to the Women’s ODI World Cup in 2017, the WBBL title with Sydney Thunder in 2020-21 and led London Spirit to their first title in The Hundred 2024. WPL Record: 135+ runs and 4 wickets.
Sneh Rana (India): Surprisingly, no Indian capped player was sold in the auction. India’s off-spinning all-rounder Sneh Rana made her debut in WPL 2023 and Gujarat Giants spent Rs 75 lakh for her. When regular captain Beth Mooney got injured, she was given the captaincy but the team remained at the bottom by winning only 2 out of 8 matches. The situation in the 2024 season was such that it did not even get a place in the playing 11 in most of the matches and played only 4 matches and the team remained at the bottom for the second consecutive season. WPL record: 46 runs and 6 wickets in 12 matches.
Liezel Lee (South Africa): Despite a stellar performance in the WBBL in 2024, she was overlooked due to lack of confidence in her fitness and focus on young talent. A surprising name in the ‘unsold’ list, although he is famous for his fast batting at the top order and is a popular name in franchise cricket. In the 2024 WBBL, he scored two consecutive 100s for Hobart Hurricanes with no one bidding for him. His absence will be felt especially in attacking cricket.
Lauren Bell (England): When UP Warriors released it, it seemed that this would be a favorite name for other teams because the statistics of this English bowler are not worth ignoring. 35 wickets in 27 T20 Internationals with an economy of 6.98 and a base price of Rs 30 lakh was not much. Famous for the ball’s bounce and turn both ways and also made a record of 5 wickets in ODI against New Zealand in July this year. In the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup, only 1 wicket was taken in 2 matches and perhaps this was the effect of that. The franchise considered it more important to fill the foreign slots with experienced all-rounders or explosive batsmen, thereby leaving no room for foreign fast bowlers.
Poonam Yadav (India): Experienced leg spinner who has the most wickets for India in T20 Internationals and even then unsold. Played only 3 matches for Delhi Capitals in the first season of WPL and is out of Team India since 2022. These days, not playing in international cricket probably became a sign that she would no longer be able to play at a high level. In the rapidly changing T20 format, there is a need for a clever spinner and Poonam fits that need but this time the franchise was more attracted towards young talent.
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