WPL 2025 auction: Nandini, Kamalini set to be most sought-after names

On Sunday, the third Women’s Premier League (WPL) player auction will see five teams vying to fill 19 slots overall from the pool of 120 players and complete their squads for the 2025 season at the premises of ITC Gardenia in Bengaluru.

While 29 overseas players have signed up for the auction and are in fray to fill just five slots, the attention in the upcoming mini auction will be more on 91 Indian players – nine capped and rest of them uncapped.

Nisarg Naik, a Mumbai-based cricket talent scout, has travelled around the country since late 2021 for scouting women cricketers and began recommending players to WPL franchises before the inaugural season began in 2023. Naik believes wicketkeeper-batters Nandini Kashyap and G Kamalini can become the most sought-after names in the 2025 WPL auction due to their recent good performances.

“I will keep names of Nandini and Kamalini as them being sought after by every WPL franchise in the auction. Speaking with the teams’ scouts in the U19 tri-series in Pune, many have spotted Kamalini, who’s not a new face to all the people who are following women’s cricket.”

“I saw her play live in the matches (during the tri-series in Pune), and I was left totally impressed by the talent she possesses. There won’t be any surprise in seeing that teams will be definitely going behind her. It’s because there’s no impactful left-handed batter in Indian cricket after Smriti (Mandhana). If any team does a long-term investment in her and develops her skills, then she can be the next big thing in future.”

“For Nandini, I want to mention that she was someone who didn’t have a great last two years in the domestic circuit. But she did good in Uttarakhand Premier League this year, and has been putting in consistent performances in the domestic circuit. Though she needs to put in work on her running between wickets, she is a very good player, and her strike-rate is also above 100, so teams will be looking at that as well,” said Naik in an exclusive conversation with IANS.

Nandini was the leading run scorer in the Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy and the third-highest run-getter in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy while playing for Uttarakhand. On Friday, she earned a maiden call-up to the Indian team for the T20I series against the West Indies starting in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.

On the other hand, Kamalini hit 311 runs in eight games, as Tamil Nadu won the U19 Women’s T20 Trophy in October. She followed it up by top-scoring with a sparkling 79 in the U19 tri-series final for India B against South Africa and is now in Malaysia to play for India in the inaugural U19 Asia Cup, starting on Sunday.

From a perspective of what teams need in the auction, defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru have a simple one: pick four Indian players, with no overseas slots to fill from a purse of INR 3.25 crore.

Naik believes RCB would look for boosting the bowling line up and add a second wicketkeeper too. He feels India U19 skipper Niki Prasad, pacer Joshita VJ, keeper-batter Prathyoosha Kumar, Mumbai off-spinner Jagravi Pawar and Delhi’s Pratika Rawal, who got India call-up for ODIs against the West Indies, are on RCB’s radar too.

“Joshita can be a perfect fit for RCB because she was even called for their trials, as Smriti Mandhana personally wanted to watch her bowl. Plus, there’s Niki Prasad of Karnataka, who played in that U19 tri-series, and is on radar of many teams, and not just RCB.

“Someone like Prathyoosha is there, who’s a local Karnataka player and is a student of NICE Academy run by Arjun Dev sir. She’s a decent player who’s batting style is 360 degree and can play shots all over the ground. Jagravi and Pratika can be good for them too.”

Regarding two-time runners-up Delhi Capitals, who have to fill four slots, including getting one overseas player with a purse of INR 2.5 crore, Naik feels their priority could be to get back-up wicketkeeper, hard-hitting batter and extra fast-bowler.

“Apart from Nandini, they could go for Sushma Verma, as she was called for their trials. She’s a capped India player who’s been in good form recently. We see that Taniyaa Bhatia’s keeping is good but her batting comes after number ten, which doesn’t make sense. They can go after Danielle Gibson, who’s a power-hitter.”

“Ireland’s Orla Prendergast of Ireland is also a good option, though I could feel that DC might go after an overseas player who’s more experienced at the international level. Someone like Kim Garth can also be a good option for them.”

For 2023 WPL champions Mumbai Indians, who have to fill four slots, including an overseas spot in INR 2.65 crore, Naik thinks they would eye getting players they have kept an eye on in the domestic circuit.

“After releasing Issy Wong, I think they can rope in either Lauren Cheatle or Lauren Bell. They can also someone like Akshita Maheshwari, a pace all-rounder from Rajasthan who was leading wicket-taker in last year’s U23 ODI tournament. Only Mumbai Indians called her in for the trials, where I have been told that she did impress Kiran More. So, she can be an out of the box pick for Mumbai Indians in the auction.”

“Sonal Thakur of Himachal Pradesh is also another option – a leg-spinner who bats two-down, and had a good time with Himachal Pradesh in this year’s Senior Women’s T20 Trophy. There’s also Sanskriti Gupta from Madhya Pradesh, who’s a left-handed batter coming at number six and does power-hitting, apart from bowling some off-spin.”

“For a wicketkeeper (as back-up to Yastika Bhatia), they can look at Shipra Giri, who was in the MI trials alongside Prathyoosha and Nandini. There’s also Bhavika Ahire from Maharashtra, who was in the U19 tri-series in Pune (and is now in Malaysia for Asia Cup). I happened to see her batting and she plays tremendously well.”

“Other options they might eye are Raghvi Bist of Uttarakhand, who’s primarily a batter (and earned call-up for the T20Is against West Indies), and Tanushree Sarkar of Bengal, who was also called in for MI trials.”

From a UP Warriorz perspective, Naik raised concern over the team not getting their batting balance right due to presence of players who are mainly openers - Kiran Navgire, Alyssa Healy, Shweta Sehrawat, Uma Chetry, Vrinda Dinesh and Deepti Sharma.

So, how would they go about for roping in three players, including an overseas one, with a purse of INR 3.9 crore? “For the wicketkeeper, they can be in the running for getting Nandini and Kamalini. Sarah Glenn and Danielle Gibson can be also good, especially with Jon Lewis and the England connections being there.”

“For Indian players, they can look at Salonee Dangore, a leg-spin all-rounder who used to play for Madhya Pradesh and is now turning out for Chhattisgarh. Plus, she had a stint with the Delhi Capitals as their net bowler.”

“Plus, I did recommend Akshita Maheshwari’s name to the franchise as a pace-bowling option. Not to forget, Mamta Rani from Punjab – not much talked about, but she is a good player – bats well and maintains good economy rate,” stated Naik.

In terms of the Gujarat Giants, who have finished as bottom-placed team in two straight WPL seasons, they need to fill in four slots, including buying two overseas players with a purse of INR 4.4 crore.

“I guess Sneh Rana will be back over here, because of the experience she has. I guess it’s a strategy for the side to buy her back in lesser price. They can also eye Ireland’s Orla Prendergast and with them not having a back-up wicketkeeper-batter in first two seasons, they can look to get Theertha Sathish of the UAE. But with their top four fixed, she will play in the middle-order if picked.”

“They can look to get Mumbai’s Jagravi, and also rope in Tejal Hasabnis, who can bat in middle-order for them in tandem with Kashvee Gautam. They can also look at Deandra Dottin as an overseas option, though we know the issue she had with them two years ago. Thing is, Gujarat needs a power-hitter at the end, and Kashvee, despite being there, has done that only at the domestic level. So they need someone like Deandra there,” concluded Naik.