In the initial round of auctions for the second season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), Sri Lankan cricket captain Chamari Athapaththu faced disappointment as she went unsold. This marks the second consecutive time Athapaththu has found herself without a team, having also gone unsold during the inaugural edition of the WPL.
Despite earning the prestigious title of Player of the Tournament in the recently concluded Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), Athapaththu’s bid to secure a spot in the WPL remained unfulfilled during the auction, which concluded in Mumbai on Saturday.
The auction, which featured 165 registered players, witnessed only 30 players successfully finding new teams among the five participating franchises. Notably, Annabel Sutherland and Kashvee Gautam emerged as the top buys of the day, securing deals with the Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Giants, respectively, for Rs. 2 crores each.
Athapaththu’s absence from the list of sold players adds an unexpected twist to the composition of teams in the upcoming WPL season, leaving cricket enthusiasts and team strategists pondering the reasons behind her consecutive unsold stints in the league.
