3 Indian all-rounders who could fetch big money at WPL 2024 auction ft. Devika Vaidya
The Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024 auction is less than 24 hours away and there has been a lot of buzz already around the number of big names that will be going under the hammer. After a successful inaugural season, the WPL promises to be bigger and better this time around.
While the star names will surely set the stage ablaze, the tournament will also be crucial from the Indian team's point of view as it will give a stage to several capped and uncapped players to make a statement.
The WPL franchises now have a year of experience and might have had an eye on how some all-rounders have performed in domestic cricket. On that note, here's a look at three Indian all-rounders who might be on the radar of multiple franchises, potentially leading to a bidding war:
#3 Poonam Khemnar
Poonam Khemnar played one match in the WPL 2023 season for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), scoring just two runs. However, the all-rounder had an incredible Senior Women's T20 Trophy 2023, in which she ended up as the third-highest run-scorer.
In just seven games, Khemnar scored a staggering 329 runs at a fantastic strike rate of 139.40. She also is handy with her leg-spin, picking up three wickets at an economy rate of just 2.66, which was the best in the competition. She could certainly be a highly sought-after all-rounder in the auction, given her recent form.
#2 Ashwani Kumari
Quite a few eyebrows were raised over how Gujarat Giants (GG) used Ashwani Kumari in the inaugural WPL season. She faced just five balls in the whole tournament, scoring five runs, and bowled just one over, conceding 18 runs.
However, Ashwani is a much better player than that and she proved it in the Senior Women's T20 Trophy this year. In seven matches, she scored 153 runs at a healthy strike rate of 120.47. She also scored a quickfire 52 off 25 balls recently in the Senior Women's Inter-zonal T20 Trophy.
Ashwani's big-hitting ability coupled with her handy medium pace makes her an exciting prospect for any franchise.
#1 Devika Vaidya
A whopping INR 1.4 crore bid from the UP Warriorz in the auction last year had already shown how sought-after Devika Vaidya was. A leg-spinner and also a southpaw who is versatile to bat anywhere in the order, Vaidya can give balance to any side.
Although she couldn't set the stage ablaze last year, Vaidya showed her quality in domestic cricket with 11 wickets in six matches for Maharashtra in the Senior Women's T20 Trophy 2023. She also picked up nine wickets in six games in the Senior Women's Inter-zonal T20 Trophy and is in red-hot form coming into the auction.