Chandigarh: West Indies powerhouse Deandra Dottin was signed for ₹60 lakh ahead of the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) season in 2023 by Gujarat Giants (GG), but was withdrawn from the squad days before the tournament, leading to a controversy. She did not feature in the WPL second edition.
But the 33-year-old Barbados player, the oldest in Sunday’s mini-auction held in Bengaluru, made a smashing return with GG again acquiring her services, this time for ₹1.7 crore. With a base price of ₹50 lakh, the Windies all-rounder was the first player to be sold, after a bidding battle between UP Warriorz and GG.
Dottin had announced her retirement from international cricket in 2022, citing the West Indies cricket administration as one of the reasons behind her decision. However, she reversed her decision before the Women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE in October. She had a successful campaign, scoring 120 runs in five innings and taking five wickets. Dottin also won the Women’s Big Bash League with Melbourne Renegades.
Known for her explosive batting and all-round capabilities, Dottin is expected to add value to a Gujarat Giants team that did poorly in both the WPL editions – they lost 12 matches and won only 4 – and were criticised for team selections. They let go of mentor Mithali Raj and assistant coach Nooshin Al-Khadeer for the coming season. GG went into the auction with the biggest purse of ₹4.4 crore with only four slots to fill.
Mumbai all-rounder Simran Sheikh though was the most expensive player of the auction, GG securing her for ₹1.9 crore, against her base price of ₹10 lakh. The 22-year-old made her WPL debut for UP Warriorz in the inaugural edition in 2023. She went unsold in the last auction, but was back in demand after aggregating 176 runs in 11 games in the recent Senior Women’s T20 Trophy, with a top score of 47.
Mumbai Indians bought Tamil Nadu’s 16-year-old batter G Kamalini for ₹1.6 crore, while Uttarakhand’s Prema Rawat was acquired by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for ₹1.2 crore.
An impressive leg-spinner, Rawat, 20, was instrumental in Mussoorie Thunders’ triumph in the inaugural Uttarakhand Premier League.
The auction featured 120 players in all, and the 19 vacant slots were filled for a total of ₹9.5 crore. Only 19 slots were available as most teams had retained their core players. Four players fetched bids of over ₹1 crore.
Two-time finalists Delhi Capitals (DC) bought two wicketkeeper-batters, Nandani Kashyap ( ₹10 lakh) and Scotland’s Sarah Bryce ( ₹10 lakh), who would be competing with Taniya Bhatia for a place in the playing XI.
In the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy, 21-year-old Kashyap scored 247 runs at an average of 41.16 and a strike rate of 125.40 for Uttarakhand. In the Challengers after that, her average was 83 as she emerged the leading scorer with 332 runs in just five innings at a strike rate of 137.2.
