1st Women’s Premier League auction: Why WPL teams must look back at the early years of IPL

Indian cricket captain Harmanpreet Kaur. Capped players can set their base price at Rs 30 lakh or Rs 50 lakh. (Image source: BCCI via Twitter/ImHarmanpreet)

It has taken its time, but the Women’s Premier League (WPL) is finally upon us. Between them, the five franchises spent a whopping Rs 4,699 crore, while the television and digital media rights were sold for Rs 951 crore.

The WPL is now the second-richest franchise-based cricket league in the world across genders, after the Indian Premier League (IPL); and the third-richest franchise-based women’s league in the world across sports, after the WNBA and the Women’s Super League.

Also read: WPL boost: Women's IPL will catapult Indian cricket to newer heights

Yet, as of now, there is no clarity over when the auction will be held. If one believes the reports, the organisers are unable to find a hotel to host the event during the wedding season.

While the when and where of the auction remain unknown, there are things we do know.

Every franchise will have a cap of Rs 12 crore to pick 15-18 cricketers. A playing XI can include at most five overseas cricketers, of whom at least one must be from an Associate Nation. Cricketers can set their base prices at Rs 10 lakh, Rs 20 lakh (for uncapped cricketers), Rs 30 lakh, or Rs 50 lakh (capped players).

With every team set to start from scratch, it may be a good idea to take a look back at the initial auctions in the Indian Premier League, since the first edition in 2008.

How the IPL began

By the time of the first IPL auction on February 20, 2008, the Twenty20 format had already become popular in India, thanks to the country’s triumph in the inaugural men’s World Twenty20 in 2007 and the launch of the Indian Cricket League. However, that did not necessarily bring greater clarity around what the format demanded from the auction.

Ahead of the first IPL auction, six teams were assigned local stars as icon cricketers to help the fans identify with the respective sides. Of them, V.V.S. Laxman opted out (Deccan Chargers got him at the auction anyway), but Mumbai (Sachin Tendulkar), Delhi (Virender Sehwag), Bangalore (Rahul Dravid), Punjab (Yuvraj Singh), and Kolkata (Sourav Ganguly) did have their icons.

At the auction, Kolkata splurged on overseas stars – Ricky Ponting, Shoaib Akhtar, Chris Gayle – while not focusing enough on Indian cricketers, despite having to field seven from the latter group every time.

Bangalore already had Dravid; they added Jacques Kallis, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Wasim Jaffer, all of whom were outstanding cricketers but took their time to get off the block. Having all four at the same time was probably not a great idea.

As things turned out, the only two teams without icons – Rajasthan and Chennai – eventually met in the final. They had gone in with contrasting strategies at the auction. Chennai had invested in M.S. Dhoni, who had led India to the World Cup a few months ago. Nearly a decade and a half later, Dhoni still leads them.

Rajasthan had acquired Shane Warne, who had retired from international cricket over a year ago, and had never played a Twenty20 International match. They appointed him as both captain and coach. Warne was the only overseas captain that year. Apart from him, the only big name they had was Graeme Smith.

Also read: Shane Warne and India were a match made in heaven

Rajasthan’s approach became clear as the league proceeded. Their focus had been on roles and specialists in Twenty20 cricket. They got a bona-fide slogger, Yusuf Pathan, who hit 25 sixes and chipped in with the ball. At the top, they had Kamran Akmal and Swapnil Asnodkar, the Goa cricketer who never played for India. Both had the licence to go after the bowling.

They got Ravindra Jadeja, fresh from the Under-19 World Cup, but used only his batting, saving his bowling for emergency. As a strike bowler, they got Sohail Tanvir, who won the Purple Cap, and complemented him with two accurate, economical seamers, Munaf Patel and Siddharth Trivedi.

Shane Watson had fallen out of favour for the national side, but Warne pushed him to the forefront in every department. Watson was named Player of the Tournament for his 472 runs at 17 wickets. Of course, there was Warne himself.

Rajasthan won the inaugural edition of the IPL. Bangalore finished seventh and Deccan Chargers last. As if to demonstrate the fickleness of the format, the Chargers won the next edition and Bangalore came second.

By then, more trends began to appear. Kolkata and Bangalore sacked Ganguly and Dravid as captains, making it clear that there was little room for sentiment in the harsh world of franchise-based cricket. At the IPL, your stature counted for little unless you performed for your team in the league. By 2011, Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman, and Yuvraj had all been released by their franchises.

The trend became more and more common over time, particularly with overseas cricketers. For example, David Hussey was acquired for USD 625,000, comfortably more than his more illustrious brother Michael’s USD 250,000. Brian Lara never got an IPL contract. Despite his stature, Joe Root got a contract as late as in 2023. Chris Gayle seemed set for a similar fate when he was released by Kolkata – until Dirk Nannes got injured and Bangalore called him up as replacement. The list is long.

What to expect at the WPL

Franchises are expected to go big on Indian cricketers, who will represent six of the playing XI, especially potential captains. Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, and Deepti Sharma, captains at the Women’s T20 Challenger, were always set to be big buys. After India’s Under-19 T20 World Cup triumph, Shafali Verma is set to join the group.

Frantic bidding over big hitters like Richa Ghosh (who can add balance by keeping wicket) and the all-rounders (Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, among others) is likely, while Renuka Singh Thakur will almost certainly be the most sought-after Indian seamer.

Despite being unable to impress national selectors with her hitting, Kiran Navgire is likely to be popular at the auction. The Under-19 stars – Shweta Sehrawat, Parshavi Chopra, Titas Sadhu, Mannat Kashyap, Archana Devi – can go for big money.

Also read: Women’s Premier League: Jhulan Goswami, Charlotte Edwards to coach Mumbai Indians team

The teams are also likely to splurge on the Australians, arguably the greatest limited-overs side in the history of cricket across genders. If thirty – six per franchise – overseas cricketers get sold at the auction, it will not be a surprise if about half of them are Australians.

Teams will also be required to field one cricketer from Associate Nations, so they are likely to go for two in the squad. The full list is not available yet, but if one goes by the IPL trends, teams are likelier to invest in opening batters (or at most a No.3), fast bowlers, and all-rounders when it comes to overseas cricketers. A middle-order bat or a spinner has to be exceptional to get a deal.

The first season will be over in less than two months’ time. New strategies will emerge over the course of the league, as will new loyalties. As of now, one can only speculate.

Also read: Women's IPL: WPL 2023 likely to score high on advertising opportunity, viewership