WPL 2024 Auction: Aakash Chopra picks two players which could trigger bidding war

The highly-anticipated auction of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 will get underway on Saturday, December 09 in Mumbai. A total of 165 players will go under the hammer during the mega event out of which 61 are overseas. A few names from international cricket will be up for grabs by the five franchises such as Deandra Dottin, and Kim Garth who have the highest base price of INR 50 Lakh.

Former India cricketer turned commentator Aakash Chopra also shared his views ahead of the auction. He stated that Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu and Barbados all-rounder Deandra Dottin could start a bidding among the franchises as they’re ‘multi-dimensional’ players.

Also Read: WPL Auction 2024: Everything you need to know about upcoming mini-auction

"I am going with Chamari Athapaththu and Deandra Dottin. Between the two, because they are multi-dimensional players. There is a unique thing actually in women's cricket. It is not something that we see very often with men's cricket, which is the multi-dimensional cricketing skills. I think all women are multi-taskers and most men are very uni-dimensional. So, these two," Akash Chopra was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

Notably, Athapaththu went unsold in the auction last year, however, she’s been in good form this year in T20Is having scored 470 runs from 16 innings at an average of 31.33 and a strike rate of 130.91. Furthermore, she’s also the highest run scorer in Women’s ODIs in 2023 having 415 runs to her name from eight innings at an average of 69.16 and a strike rate of 125.37 with two hundreds and one fifty.

Deandra Dottin was excluded from Gujarat Giants squad in 2023

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Hence, the Sri Lankan skipper could well turn out to be the most expensive player at the auction. On the other hand, Deandra Dottin was sold to Gujarat Giants for ₹60 lakh in the inaugural edition, after her bidding began at ₹50 lakh. However, she was excluded from the squad ahead of the start of the season on medical grounds.

Meanwhile, a total of 30 slots are left to be filled across five franchises for the Women’s Premier League 2024 out of which nine are for overseas players.