The auction to acquire one of the four teams in the Women’s Maharashtra Premier League (WMPL) saw a fierce bidding war between entities at an event on Saturday. Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) is the only state association to conduct a women’s franchise T20 league. The inaugural season of WMPL will tentatively begin on June 24. The tournament will have 13 games.
MCA president Rohit Pawar could not attend the event. But his message was read out by Hon. Secretary Kamlesh Pisal. “I am proud that we as MCA have this opportunity to be the first state association to host a franchise-based women’s T20 league. Last year, at the MPL player auction, we promised that we would host WMPL and we have kept our word,” Pawar’s message said.
“MPL did provide a platform for our players to showcase their talent. I am sure that WMPL would become a similar platform for our female cricketers. I believe that WMPL will unearth future India players.”
WMPL has attracted some big names
Suhana Sahyadri Sujanils 4S group, owners of the Puneri Bappa team in MPL, made the highest bid of ₹5.1 crore to acquire the Pune team in WMPL too. The women’s team will also be called Puneri Bappa. Pune team chose India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana as their icon player.
The second-highest bid of ₹3.8 crore was made for Nashik by Wine Enterprises Pvt Ltd. They opted to go with India international Anuja Patil as their icon player.
Kapil Sons Group, owners of Solapur Royals, acquired the Ratnagiri team for ₹3.6 crore. The team however opted for a change in their city/district and went with Raigad. The team will be called Raigad Royals. Another India international Kiran Navgire will be an icon player for their team.
Royal Genius Sports Pvt Ltd became the owner of the Solapur team for ₹3.4 crore. Their icon player will be India international Devika Vaidya.
Before the auction, MCA apex council members – Vinayak Dravid, Raju Kane, Ranjit Khirid, Sushil Shewale, and Sunil Mutha – felicitated the team owners. Kalpana Tapikar gave a vote of thanks and expressed that WMPL will be a game-changer for women’s cricket in Maharashtra.
