WPL Auction Snubs — Star Players Go Unsold

The inaugural Women's Premier League auction took place at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai on 13 February 2023, marking the most significant moment in women's cricket franchise history. The launch of the WPL had been driven by the BCCI's decision to capitalise on the commercial momentum generated by the success of women's cricket — including the 2017 World Cup, the record 86,174-strong MCG crowd at the 2020 T20 World Cup final, and the establishment of professional contracts in Australia and England. With five franchises bidding for players from a pool that included most of the world's leading internationals, expectations were high that the WPL would set new benchmarks for player remuneration in women's cricket. The auction did indeed produce headline numbers — Smriti Mandhana sold for ₹3.4 crore, Ashleigh Gardner for ₹3.2 crore, Nat Sciver-Brunt for ₹3.2 crore — but the day was equally notable for the players who went unsold. Several established international stars, including New Zealand captain Suzie Bates and England's Danni Wyatt, attracted no bids at all, prompting immediate questions about how the franchises had assessed value and what the auction said about the perceived worth of senior international experience.

The build-up to the WPL auction had been marked by considerable speculation about player valuations. Each of the five franchises — Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Giants, and UP Warriorz — had a purse of ₹12 crore, with rules requiring squad sizes of 15-18 players including up to six overseas players. The player pool of 409 cricketers — including 246 Indians and 163 overseas players — was filtered down through a registration and base-price selection process. The auction lists included virtually all of the leading internationals: Australia's Meg Lanning, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Alyssa Healy, Ashleigh Gardner; England's Heather Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Danni Wyatt; New Zealand's Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates, Amelia Kerr; the West Indies' Deandra Dottin, Hayley Matthews, Stafanie Taylor; and the leading South Africans, Sri Lankans, and Pakistanis where eligible. The base-price tiers ranged from ₹10 lakh to ₹50 lakh, with the very top players setting their base at the maximum ₹50 lakh in expectation of significant bidding. As the auction unfolded, however, the patterns of bidding revealed franchise preferences that surprised many observers: emphasis on all-rounders and big-hitting batters, comparative restraint on senior batters with more conventional games, and a willingness to leave several established names unsold in favour of younger or differently-skilled options.

The inaugural Women's Premier League auction in February 2023 was a landmark event for women's cricket, with franchises spending big on top talent. However, the auction also produced controversy when several established international players went unsold despite strong credentials at the international level.

Veteran players from multiple countries found themselves without bids, while younger, less proven players attracted significant interest. The trend raised questions about ageism in franchise cricket and whether the T20 league format undervalued experience and cricketing intelligence in favour of raw athleticism and potential.

Some of the unsold players expressed their disappointment on social media and in interviews, with a few pointing out the irony of being considered good enough for their national teams but not for a T20 franchise. The situation was compounded by the limited squad sizes and the desire of franchises to build rosters with an eye on the future rather than immediate results.

The controversy prompted discussions about whether WPL franchises needed larger squad sizes, whether there should be minimum price adjustments, and whether the auction format itself was suitable for a nascent league. By the second season, some adjustments were made, but the fundamental tension between franchise economics and player welfare remained unresolved.

“Twitter in shock as Suzie Bates goes unsold at WPL Auction 2023.”

“An auction that broke records for some and broke hearts for others.”

“Five players who were unlucky to go unsold in WPL Auction 2023 — and Heather Knight is on the list.”

The unsold players from the inaugural WPL auction generated immediate public debate that extended through subsequent weeks. The Suzie Bates omission was particularly heavily discussed: as one of the most decorated cricketers in women's international cricket — with multiple ICC awards and over a decade of leadership of the New Zealand team — her failure to attract any bids was widely interpreted as a verdict on franchise auction strategy rather than on her cricketing quality. Several explanations were offered: her playing style, considered more orthodox than the power-hitting profiles franchises were prioritising; her age (then 35); the relative scarcity of overseas slots given the four-overseas-on-the-field rule; and the comparative attraction of younger overseas options. Bates herself responded with characteristic graciousness and went on to enjoy a strong subsequent international career. The auction patterns prompted broader discussion about how franchise leagues assess value in women's cricket and whether the differences from the men's IPL — particularly around squad sizes, overseas player rules, and the comparative novelty of the format — required different valuation frameworks. In subsequent WPL auctions, several previously unsold senior players were picked up, suggesting that the inaugural auction patterns were partly a function of franchise inexperience rather than a settled judgment on the players concerned.