"That's like spending 30 crore on one player in the men's IPL" - DC co-owner Parth Jindal on spending pattern at the WPL Auction 2023
Delhi Capitals (DC) co-owner Parth Jindal commented on the spending trend employed by other franchises at the WPL Auction 2023 on Monday, February 13. The five franchises involved in the inaugural season of the Women's Premier League (WPL) were embroiled in a bidding war to secure the services of players and assemble their squad.
Each team had a budget of ₹12 crore, with the players having base prices of ₹50 lakh, ₹40 lakh, ₹30 lakh, and ₹10 lakh according to their bracket. Several franchises went all in during the marquee set, which kick-started the auction.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) spent almost a third of their purse to bring in Smriti Mandhana, who ended up as the most expensive acquisition with a winning bid of ₹3.4 crore.
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Expressing his frustration over teams shelling out an astronomical amount of money over a single player, Jindal told ESPNcricinfo:
"A lot of money got spent on the marquee list by the other teams. "People spent almost 30% of their purse on one player. Smriti Mandhana went for INR 3.4 crore out of 12 [crore], that's 27-28% of their purse. That's like spending 30 crore on one player in the men's IPL. You can't do that! According to me, you can't do that, but they did."
Delighted over the prospect of acquiring key Indian players for a reasonable sum, Jindal said:
"People spent a lot on the marquee players and that didn't leave much money for some of the other Indians. So when a few of the sets got over, we were in a very sweet spot because we had Jemimah, Shafali, Lanning, and we were ready with money to pick up whoever we wanted to pick up. We're very happy, fingers crossed, we've built a good squad."
Delhi Capitals (DC) were the second franchise after the UP Warriorz to assemble the maximum limit of 18 players in the squad.
DC were heavily involved in the accelerated round of the auction after acquiring key players like Marizanne Kapp and Alice Capsey prior to the break.
"It makes all the sense to take one" - Parth Jindal on DC being the only WPL franchise to buy an associate player
The WPL rules dictate that five overseas players can be included in the playing XI as long as the fifth member is from an associate nation.
DC were the only franchise to buy an associate player by making a bid for Tara Norris, a bowler from the United States of America (USA). The Gujarat Giants also attempted to bring in an associate player but had already completed their quota of six overseas players.
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Failing to understand why other WPL teams did not attempt to bid for an associate player, Jindal said:
"You can only play five foreigners if you play an Associate player in the XI, so it makes all the sense to take one. I don't know why they didn't. I know Gujarat [Giants] tried later but they had run out of foreign slots."
DC have a plethora of captaincy options in the form of their core players. The co-owner mentioned that a call regarding leadership will be taken soon.
Are the Delhi Capitals (DC) among the favorites to win the inaugural season of the WPL? Let us know what you think.
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