Kashvee Gautam breaks bank at WPL auction

Uncapped allrounder Kashvee Gautam and Australiarsquos bowling allrounder Annabel Sutherland emerged the most expensive players in the Womenrsquos Premier League WPL Player Auction on SaturdayGautam 20 and Sutherland 22 were bought for R2 crore each by Gujarat Giants GG and Delhi Capitals DC respectivelyGiants opened the bidding for Punjab cricketer Gautam with R15 lakh base price Rs 10 lakhAlso ReadThese five eye highfive showAnnabel Sutherland PicGetty ImagesThen Royal Challengers Bangalore fought for her before UP Warriorz too tried to get this young cricketer into their fold But Gujarat Giants had the last laugh Mumbai Indians MI showed interest in Sutherland base price R40 lakh but DC got Sutherland who was released by Gujarat ahead of the auctionAlso ReadEngland seal series 20 after India suffer stunning batting collapseKarnatakarsquos opening batter Vrinda Dinesh 22 base price Rs 10 lakh who last week represented India lsquoArsquo against England lsquoArsquo in the T20I series emerged the second most expensive Indian player who went to UP for Rs 130 croreIsmail for Mumbai IndiansThe auction proceedings began with the bidding for Australian batter Phoebe Litchfield base price R30 lakh Both UP and Gujarat Giants fought for her but Gujarat won with Rs 1 crore bid Defending champions MI spent R120 crore on South African pacer Shabnim Ismail 35 They also got Mumbai girl Fatima Jaffer for her base price of Rs 10 lakhMumbai Indians owners Nita Ambani and Akash Ambani during the WPL auction on Saturday PicBCCISurprisingly there were no takers for Sri Lankan allrounder Chamari Athapaththu base price Rs 30 lakh West Indies hardhitter Deandra Dottin Rs 50 lakh Australia bowler Kim Garth Rs 50 lakh and England wicketkeeper Amy Jones Rs 40 lakhBCCI Secretary Jay Shah reckoned that Indian uncapped players Gautam and Vrinda getting big purses is a message for young girls who aspire to play this game on the big stage ldquoIt is a huge message for all women cricket players that if we work hard on the ground we will also get a similar price in the future It is very encouraging for all young female playersrdquo Shah said on the sidelines of the auctionAccording to Shah the second WPL edition could start in the second or third week of February However the venue was not announced ldquoAs far as the venue is concerned it will be held in one state It is better logistically We can do it either in Bangalore or Uttar Pradesh We have so many venues even in Gujarat where we have Ahmedabad Rajkot and after a few years Baroda can build their own stadiumWPL in one state Jay ShahldquoBasically it is a joint call between the franchises and BCCI We will sit together and decide It will be in one state that is for surerdquoMeanwhile Gujarat Giants mentor Mithali Raj remarked that it would be a big boost for womenrsquos cricket if WPL games are held at different venues ldquoIn this way we can also build our fan base as a new franchise We can develop a fan base at home It gives us an opportunity to show womenrsquos cricket to a new audiencerdquo the former India captain said amidst auction feverTop 5 buysRs 2crKashvee Gautam Gujarat GiantsRs 2crAnnabel Sutherland Delhi CapitalsRs 130crVrinda Dinesh UP WarriorzRs 120crShabnim Ismail Mumbai IndiansRs 1crPhoebe Litchfield Delhi Capitals