Mumbai’s Simran Shaikh became the costliest player of the Women’s Premier League mini-auction 2025. She was roped in by Gujarat Giants for ₹1.90 crore even as veteran India player Sneh Rana went unsold here on Sunday.

On a day when five teams competed to fill 19 slots from a pool of 120 players to finalise their squads for next year’s WPL, the other top money earners were West Indies stalwart Deandra Dottin (₹1.70 crore — Gujarat Giants), 16-year-old U-19 keeper-batter G. Kamalini (₹1.60 crore — Mumbai Indians), Prema Rawat (₹1.20 crore — Royal Challengers Bengaluru) and N. Charani (₹55 lakh — Delhi Capitals).

Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Giants were involved in a bidding war for Simran, who hails from Dharavi in Mumbai, before the latter raised the bar to net her.

Simran, 22, a middle-order batter, played a few matches for UP Warriorz during the 2023 WPL season. She has made 176 runs in 11 matches for Mumbai at 22 with a strike rate of 100.57 during the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy in October-November this year.

“Thrilled to welcome Simran Shaikh to #GujaratGiants with a record-breaking bid at the #WPLAuction2025! Her incredible journey from the bylanes of Dharavi to the top of women’s cricket is a testament to the power of dreams and determination,” Pranav Adani of the Gujarat Giants posted on X on Sunday.

All-rounder Dottin, who is currently in India with the West Indies team for the white-ball series, was the costliest among overseas players and was bought by the Giants for the second time in the auction.

Dottin, 33, a veteran of 132 WT20Is, was one of the three players with base price ofRs 50 lakh and saw UPWarriorz too make a wholehearted bid for her beforethe Giants upped the amount.

Tamil Nadu’s G. Kamalini, 16, who struck a fine 44 in India’s victory over Pakistan in the U-19 Women’s T20 Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, also secured her career’s biggest pay cheque from the Mumbai Indians at the auction.

No capped India player was bought during the auction, which included senior player Sneh Rana, who captained Gujarat Giants in the first edition of the WPL.

With inputs from PTI