WPL 2024 auction: Giants-Royals look to plug the gaps, others fine-tune plans

With the biggest purse going into the WPL 2024 auction on Saturday last editions woodenspooner Gujarat Giants will look to plug the holes ahead of the 2024 edition of the league while the four other teams will be keen to finetune their squadsGujarat Giants finished fifth and last in the inaugural edition in March while another highprofile team Royal Challengers Bangalore finished fourthA total of 165 players 104 Indians and 61 overseas including 15 from Associate nations will be in contention for the 30 spots including nine for overseas in the Womens Premier League WPL miniauctionThe WPL 2024 auction will feature 56 capped and 109 uncapped players The second edition of the WPL will likely be organised in FebruaryMarch ahead of the IPL Unlike the inaugural edition which was held in one city the 2024 edition will take place in Mumbai and BangalorePrice talkWest Indies Deandra Dottin who was controversially excluded from the Gujarat Giants squad ahead of the start of the first season on medical grounds is one of the two players with the highest reserve price of Rs 50 lakh IrishAustralian cricketer Kim Garth who reportedly replaced Dottin in the Giants squad is the other playerAustralia allrounders Annabel Sutherland and Georgia Wareham who both played in the inaugural WPL have a base price of Rs 40 lakhSouth Africas Shabnim Ismail and England wicketkeeperbatter Amy Jones are the other two cricketers with a base price of Rs 40 lakhVeteran Indian cricketers Veda Krishnamurthy Poonam Raut Sushma Verma Ekta Bisht Gouher Sultana and Mona Meshram are in the auction with a base price of Rs 30 lakhAlso ReadLook back in angerAustralias Erin Burns and Sophie Molineux Englands Danni Wyatt and Tammy Beaumont Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu and South Africas Nadine de Klerk are the other prominent names in the Rs 30lakh bracketAvailable slotsThe Gujarat Giants table could be the busiest during the auction as along with the biggest purse Rs 595 crore comes the task of finding 10 new players to rebuild their squad after a forgettable first seasonAustralias Beth Mooney got injured in the first game and was ruled out with Indias Sneh Rana donning the captains hat for most part of the seasonHaving let go of some quality overseas players such as Sutherland Wareham Garth and Sophia Dunkley the Giants will look to reinforce their bench strengthThailands 19yearold Thipatcha Putthawong who has already played 42 T20Is and has a brilliant economy rate of 414 has sparked a lot of interest in the RCB campRCB who lost six of their eight matches in the last edition and missed the playoffs have Rs 335 crore in their kitty and need another seven players including three overseas to complete their squad limit of 18 playersLast years finalists Delhi Capitals may go for a fast bowler given they released the only player from Associate nations United States Tara Norris who also recorded the first fivewicket haul in the competitionDelhi Capitals will have a purse of Rs 225 crore and have a maximum limit of adding three players including one overseas since their squad strength stands at 15 going into the auctionAlso ReadToo many cooks spoil the brothUP Warriorz will have Rs 4 crore to work with as they look to fill five slots including one overseasFor a side which finished third in the fiveteam competition there were many promising performances under captain Alyssa HealyHowever having let go of someone as skilled and experienced as South Africas Ismail UP Warriorz can be expected to go for another frontline fast bowler to bolster their attack along with filling the void created by the exit of Devika VaidyaChampions Mumbai Indians will also have five players to add to their bench including one overseas when they get into the actionWith a purse of Rs 21 crore MI did not suffer much in terms of the players released as their core remains intact and so does skipper Harmanpreet Kaurs strategy of stacking the playing XI with allroundersMumbai Indians may go for young players which they could add to their camp and groom for the futureWith agency inputs