Athapaththu, Marufa, Kashvee: Women's Premier League season 2 auction shortlist decoded

The Women's Premier League season 2 will be held in February-March 2024.

The shortlist for the second Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction is out. Some of the biggest names in the women’s game will go under the hammer on December 9 in Mumbai, with a total of 165 players – 104 Indians and 61 overseas candidates – vying for the 30 spots available, including nine that can be taken up by overseas players, across the five franchises: Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, UP Warriorz and Gujarat Giants. Moneycontrol takes at a look at some of the players who make for an interesting study on the second WPL auction shortlist.

Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka)

Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu. (Photo: Getty Images)

Among the 61 overseas players to have made the shortlist, the one with by far the most sparkling form and public sentiment on their side heading into the auction is the Sri Lanka captain. Overlooked in the inaugural WPL auction earlier this year, in February, Athapaththu, the big-hitting left-hand batting allrounder was subsequently snubbed by The Hundred in the UK and the inaugural Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) draft in Australia.

However, signed on by Sydney Thunder as a last-minute overseas replacement player, the 33-year-old went on to become the Player of the Tournament at WBBL’s ninth season, with 511 runs at 42.58, striking at 129.69, and picked up nine wickets at an economy of 6.79 with her offspin. She has put herself in the lowest base-price bracket for capped internationals – Rs 30 lakh – and is likely to find takers this time around. Keep an eye out for a potential bidding battle between Giants and Royal Challengers.

Deandra Dottin (West Indies)

A major controversy to hit the first season of the WPL, just hours before the tournament opener no less, was the curious exclusion of the former West Indies batting allrounder. Bought at Rs 60 lakh by Giants at the auction over her then base price of Rs 40 lakh, the franchise announced that Australia allrounder Kim Garth replaced Dottin in their squad as she was "recovering from a medical situation". Dottin, the fastest - and first - centurion in Women's T20 Internationals (off 38 balls against South Africa in 2010), however, refuted the claim on social media, stating that she was fit and healthy.

Deandra Dottin of West Indies. (Photo: X)

Nine months on, with a base price of Rs 50 lakh, the highest slab for capped internationals, the 32-year-old former T20 World Cup winner is one of the only two players – alongside Garth – to have chosen to be slotted in the top bracket. Her recent outings in top-tier cricket were at the Women’s Caribbean Premier League and The Hundred in September and August, respectively, as well as for Lancashire in English domestic cricket and the FairBreak Invitational tournament in Hong Kong in April.

Marufa Akter (Bangladesh)

Marufa Akter of Bangladesh. (Photo: X)

All of 18, the Bangladesh right-arm quick has made heads turn since appearing on the world stage for the first time, at the inaugural women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup in January. She was part of the Bangladesh U-19 side that pulled off an upset against the Australia U-19s in the opening game of the tournament and, a month later, had struck in the powerplay against the senior Australian side, with the wicket of Beth Mooney at the Women’s T20 World Cup.

The daughter of a farmer, Akter was the breakout performer in Bangladesh’s home series against India in July. She bowled the hosts to victory in the first ODI by picking up four wickets and finished the series as the highest wicket-taker. One of her wickets was that of India vice-captain and Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Smriti Mandhana, who heaped praise on the teenager for her “very different action,” her pace, confidence and overall energy on the field. Amid stiff competition for the overseas slots at the auction, a bid for Akter isn’t highly likely, but if it does materialise, trust the youngster to make more headlines.

Kashvee Gautam (India)

Indian bowler Kashvee Gautam. (Photo: Kashvee Gautam's Instagram account)

Ten wickets in an innings? A hat-trick included? A rarity for any bowler to pull off, sure, but Chandigarh's Kashvee Gautam knows how to do it. It’s a feat the right-arm pacer achieved against Arunachal Pradesh in the Women's Under-19 One Day Trophy in 2020. She has since gone on to make steady strides towards developing herself into an India prospect for the future, in the past 12 months specifically.

One of the 109 uncapped players on the auction shortlist, Gautam, 20, was part of the Indian A team that won the ACC Emerging Women’s Asia Cup in Hong Kong in June. Recently, she picked up a five-wicket haul, including a hat-trick , in the BCCI Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal T20 Trophy in Lucknow, a performance that helped her earn a call-up to the India A side for the ongoing T20 series against England A in Mumbai, where she has taken three wickets in two innings so far,  heading into Sunday’s series-decider.

Having been a part of the Mandhana-led Trailblazers squad at the 2020 edition of the now-defunct Women’s T20 Challenge, it may not be a surprise if Mandhana’s Royal Challengers raise the paddle for Gautam on auction day.

Nadine de Klerk (South Africa)

South African bowler Nadine de Klerk. (Photo: X)

Utility, three-dimensional players are usually hot property in franchise leagues. And, if that trend is anything to go by, as much as the reputation that 23-year-old de Klerk carries in that regard, chances are she will launch a mini bidding war or two at the auction. A street-smart right-arm quick, with ample innovation and power with the bat to boot, she has been one of the most impressive young talents on the international circuit for a few years now.

A T20 World Cup finalist at home earlier this year, de Klerk has time and again shown she can withstand pressure, a memorable exhibit of that being her superb 3 for 19 in South Africa’s heartbreakingly narrow loss against hosts Australia in the semi-final of the 2020 edition of the tournament. Whether it be her middle-order batting skills, her ability to change gears adroitly, or her efficacy with the ball at various stages of the innings, at a base price of Rs 30 lakh, both Giants and Royal Challengers, who have the most overseas slots — 3 — available, could show an interest in de Klerk.