The WPL auction for the 2024 season has come to an end. The teams have done well to fill the slots which were left to be filled. Some of the teams went for the Indian youngsters, while others picked the overseas players. Mumbai Indians, the defending champions, did well to pick some useful players, who could be handy for them, along with the players who are already good enough to play another season for them.
Ahead of the auctions, MI women had retained 13 players. They were Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Chloe Tryon, Amelia Kerr, Saika Ishaque, Natalie Sciver-Brunt, Hayley Mathews, Isabelle Wong, Yastika Bhatia, Amanjot Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, Priyanka Bala, Humairaa Kaazi, and Jintimani Kalita. Harmanpreet was retained as their captain ahead of the 2024 season as well.
MI went with a purse of INR 2.1 crores. They had only 5 slots to be filled. The focus of MI was to buy a pace bowler. They initially tried to buy Annabel Sutherland. She was eventually picked by Delhi capitals for INR 2 crores. But MI got a big fish like Shabnim Ismail in their dugout, which would bring a lot of excellence and experience to their attack. They further brought some young Indian talents.
Have MI unearthed gems through talent scouting?
Shabnim was brought by MI at a price of INR 1.3 crores. for someone who has played a lot at the international arena, it was a good pick. Ismail has the most number of wickets in ODIs and T20Is for South Africa. MI also brought some youngsters for the season. Many of them are pretty unknown for the normal audience. They got S Sajana for a price of INR 15 lakhs.
With the purse left, MI got the likes of Keerthana Balakrishnan, Amandeep Kaur, and Fatima Jaffer. Each of them was brought by MI at a price of INR 10 lakhs. Over the years, MI are known for their talent scouting. It was visible even in the WPPL 2023, where they unearthed Saika Ishaque, who was one of the star performers in the season. The caliber of the youngsters they picked will be seen in the coming days.
