Women's Premier League Auctions: Predicting the 5 costliest players

The Women's Premier League (WPL) is now official. The WPL is here to provide cricket fans all over the world the same excitement from women's cricket that the IPL does from the men's world.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) earned approximately ₹4,670 crore from the sale of five franchises for the inaugural Women's Premier League. This is higher than the amount of money that the BCCI made through the auction of Indian Premier League franchises in 2008. At the time, the eight IPL franchises were sold for approximately ₹2,850 crore.

The bid for the WPL teams came after the cricket board's record-breaking ₹951 crore, five-year television rights deal with Viacom 18. This has ushered in a new era in the history of women's cricket.

Seven of the 10 IPL franchises were in the fray to purchase a team in the WPL. The owners of Mumbai Indians (MI), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), and Delhi Capitals (DC) placed successful bids. Punjab Kings (PBKS), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Rajasthan Royals (RR), and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) missed out.

The Women's T20 Challenge, a three-team tournament that began in 2018, will be replaced by the Women's Premier League.

After player auctions take place next month, the inaugural season of the Women's Premier League will begin in March. Speculation is bound to commence about who will emerge as the costliest player from the auctions.

Indian players have been doing well in T20Is and would likely get great deals. However, there will be many superstars from other countries too who will earn a handsome pay check.

Here's a list of 5 players who are likely to be among the costliest in the Women's Premier League auctions. The order may change but they are all expected to see sizeable earnings.

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#1 Smriti Mandhana

Smriti Madhana is one of those players in women's cricket who can bring any stadium to life. Her explosive batting has class written all over it and is a sight to behold.

Mandhana never tries to over-hit the ball; she just stretches forward well and caresses it, staying with the shot.

The southpaw is powerful in her stroke-making, yet graceful; fearless, yet cautious. Mandhana's ability to play both pace bowlers and spinners with ease makes her one of the best batters in the world.

In her 100 T20 international appearances, Mandhana has amassed 2,474 runs with a decent SR of 127. She has also scored 784 runs in the WBBL at an impressive SR of 132.

Teams will also be looking at her as a potential captain for their side (she is the vice-captain of India in all formats). This means she will not only be hot property in the upcoming Women's Premier League auction for her batting credentials, but also her leadership skills.

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#2 Harmanpreet Kaur

With her natural bat swing and power, Harmanpreet Kaur is arguably more dangerous than any other batter in women's cricket. When she's on her game, there's only one thing opponents can expect: mayhem. She will scoop, she will heave it to the leg, she will slog sweep the pacers; there's nothing stopping her when the current India captain is set.

Who can forget her historic knock of 171* against the mighty Australians in the 2017 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup, where she plundered the Australian bowlers to all parts of the ground? Although it was an ODI game, her brutal hitting was there for the world to see.

The right-handed batter from Punjab is a multi-faceted asset on the field with her effective off breaks and electrifying fielding abilities. Women's Premier League teams will surely have to fight really hard in the bidding war at the auction table as she will be on the priority list of every team.

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#3 Ashleigh Gardner

Ashleigh Gardner is one of the most ferocious all-rounders in women's cricket right now. Not only does she win some improbable matches with her brutal power-hitting, but also bowls a full quota of overs and often breaks crucial partnerships.

From 67 T20 internationals, she has 1,066 runs to her name at a staggering SR of 135, with six 50s. Gardner also has 43 T20I wickets in her kitty, with an economy of 6.07.

With the Women's Premier League set to take place on pitches assisting spinners, teams will surely be looking for a player like Gardner, a proven match-winner in both facets of the game.

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#4 Sophie Ecclestone

Sophie Ecclestone, a left-arm spin-bowling all-rounder from England, is currently one of the best T20 prospects in women's cricket. With her dead-on accurate lengths and impeccable lines, she troubles almost every batter, and an economy under 6 demonstrates her potential.

In 65 appearances for England, she has scalped 86 wickets with an outstanding bowling SR of 16.48. This shows that she more often than not provides her team with the required breakthrough.

She is also a capable lower-order batter who can smack some lusty blows down the order.

Women's Premier League teams will certainly have their eyes on the prolific all-rounder, and with age on her side, the 23-year-old will prove to be a future investment for the teams.

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#5 Deepti Sharma

While many cricket pundits think that Deepti Sharma's game does not suit modern T20 standards, the 25-year-old is a gritty all-rounder. Sharma has shown in recent times that she is seriously working on her power game. She has been in some fine ball-hitting form lately, which has raised her stock in T20s.

Primarily an off-break bowler, Deepti's carrom balls and arm balls are tough to read for the opponents.

In 84 matches for India, she has scalped 92 wickets with a mean economy of 6.14 and an SR of 19.34.

She has been a revelation in the last year, batting at 6 and donning the role of a finisher for her team. Women's Premier League teams will be eager to acquire the services of the ace all-rounder, who can also be a good captaincy choice.