WPL Auction ushers in a new era in women's cricket, although it is still a far way from IPL estimates

The reaction of India women’s cricket team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana after being selected by Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs 3.4 crore at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction reflected the enthusiasm among players for the big day. After all, the women saw the event as the start of a new era in which they would be allowed to call themselves millionaires alongside their male colleagues in the Indian Premier League (IPL). For a long time, there had been talks about establishing a T20 league for women in India, with some veterans, like Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, and Harmanpreet Kaur, eagerly anticipating this watershed moment in the country’s cricketing history.

All of that will change on March 4th, when the opening match of the five-franchise event kicks off. While it will most likely continue to serve as a prelude to the ‘main event,’ the IPL, women cricketers will finally have a niche window to call their own in an environment filled with men’s T20 tournaments. While the WPL and IPL will never be comparable in terms of money and clout, the new infant of Indian cricket will at least provide a lot of glamour to women’s cricket, which has been sorely missing, as well as bring in swarms of fresh Indian and foreign personalities eager to make big bucks through WPL.

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Still, a long way to go

When compared to the IPL, India’s women cricketers have set foot in historically new terrain, with the auction exceeding expectations for some of them. The fact that Mandhana was paid Rs 3.40 crore, spinner Deepti Sharma was paid Rs 2.60 crore, and Jemimah Rodrigues and young India opener Shafali Verma were paid Rs 2 crore-plus deals bodes well for the country’s women cricketers, given that the salary cap for each of the five franchises was only Rs 12 crore, compared to the IPL mega auction last year, when the total budget per franchise was increased from Rs 90 crore to Rs 95 crore.

When comparing the first WPL auction to the first IPL auction ahead of the 2008 season, the gap is just three times what CSK paid for Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Rs 9.5 crore) and what Mandhana received on Monday. In actuality, Shane Bond (KKR) and Kieron Pollard (MI) earned the most money at the 2010 IPL auction, each earning Rs 4.8 crore. Only in 2011 did franchise salaries begin to rise, and Gautam Gambhir (KKR) broke the bank to earn a mind-boggling 11.5 crore.

The IPL has grown into the world’s largest and greatest domestic T20 event over the years, courtesy to a multi-fold growth in televised, broadcast, and internet income, which has translated into massive monetary advantages for the players as well. Ravindra Jadeja received Rs 12.8 crore in 2012, RCB paid Rs 14 crore for Yuvraj Singh, and Delhi Daredevils (Delhi Capitals) paid a then-IPL auction record of Rs 16 crore for him, all as a result of the teams’ expanding compensation budgets. The growing trend has maintained, with England all-rounder Sam Curran earning the most money from the 2023 IPL auction at Rs 18.5 crore.

When compared to the megabucks earned by male players, Mandhana’s Rs three crore-plus salary pales in comparison to these famed IPL luminaries. But, come to think of it, the first IPL auction, too, had a “modest” beginning, and gradually, more money began to pour into the atmosphere over time. As the WPL brand makes small strides towards carving out a place for itself, it’s just a matter of time until additional television money is put into the league and club pay ceilings are changed. Who knows, ten years from now, a fresh female cricketer may be laughing her way to the bank with a purse worth more than Rs 20 crore.