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Auctioneer shares her experience of heading Women’s Premier League auction
Updated On: 19 February, 2023 12:56 PM IST | Mumbai | Sucheta Chakraborty
A Mumbai art auctioneer made headlines for her craft at the inaugural Women’s Premier League auction. Mallika Sagar rates prep and research high up whether you are selling cricket players or art
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Mallika Sagar, auctioneer with Pundole’s, in a file photo during their decorative arts sale of silverware from entrepreneur and philanthropist Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy’s collection. She is their specialist in Modern and Contemporary Indian art
The WPL [Women’s Premier League] is a lot more personal. This is someone’s future in your hands,” Mallika Sagar tells us when we have her compare her recent project with her other career, where she’s held centrestage during fine art and antique auctions, most recently in her stint with Pundole’s. The specialist in modern and contemporary Indian art who led the first-ever WPL auction last week, was at the helm of an event that saw a total of 87 players sold for Rs 59.5 crore. It was undoubtedly different from her regular auctions, she agrees. For starters, the reactions of the women players, currently in South Africa, were indicative of the occasion’s more personal nature. “They were watching the live TV broadcast of the auction as they each got chosen by their new teams. Their cheers for each other were heartwarming, everyone rooting for the other, happy for each other’s successes, regardless of their individual results. Such camaraderie is wonderful to see.”
The event was also one where for the first time, these young women were presented an incredible opportunity to play at the highest level in the international arena. The occasion has helped expand the scope of sports itself in the country, Sagar insists, allowing for it to be perceived as a chosen career for women who can now afford to step out of more ‘acceptable’ professions. “It was the future of these young women at stake, and it was my responsibility to make sure they got their best shot.”
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