In what has sparked massive excitement among Mumbai Indians fans, the franchise on Monday bought Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur for Rs 1.80 crore at the inaugural Women's Premier League (WPL) auction held in Mumbai. Harmanpreet is, however, not the highest paid in her team, as England's Nat Sciver-Brunt got way more at Rs 3.20 crore.

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Harmanpreet was not even among the top-four Indian buys as the second costliest player from the country so far is all-rounder Deepti Sharma, who UP Warriorz bought for Rs 2.6 crore.

WPL Auction: Here's a full list of SOLD and UNSOLD players

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However, regardless of the price, the Indian skipper expressed joy over being part of the Mumbai Indians team, who has Rohit Sharma as the captain of the men's side.

"Hello Family, Blue it is #MumbaiIndians #WPL2023," wrote Harmanpreet Kaur in response to the club welcoming her to the MI Paltan.

Hello Family 💙
Blue it is #MumbaiIndians #WPL2023 https://t.co/foSf1X3Kcl
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— Harmanpreet Kaur (@ImHarmanpreet) February 13, 2023

Meanwhile, Smriti Mandhana stole the thunder as Royal Challengers Bangalore pipped Mumbai Indians in a bidding war to buy the India vice-captain for Rs 3.40 crore.

The hard-hitting Shafali Verma and star of the World T20 game against Pakistan on Sunday, Jemimah Rodrigues, were picked by Delhi Capitals for Rs 2 crore and Rs 2.20 crore, respectively.

However, DC pulled off a coup by roping in one of contemporary women's cricket's best leaders Meg Lanning of Australia, for Rs 1.10 crore.

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The RCB, which teed off the buying spree, also explained their choices and the price. "Everyone knows Mandhana and (Australia's Elysse) Perry -- Rs 1.7 crore); we were pretty committed to the couple of people we wanted to get. We're very happy to get such quality players. It's a dream result for us to get Mandhana, Perry and (Sophie) Devine (Rs 50 lakh)," RCB Director of Cricket Mike Hesson said during a media interaction.

"Smriti has got plenty of captaincy experience and is familiar with the Indian conditions, so highly likely (she'll be the captain)."

Also read: WPL Auction: 'Namaskara Bengaluru', says Smriti Mandhana after RCB ropes in India's star for Rs 3.40 crore

Mandhana, who watched the auction with her team cheering each bid, was ecstatic. "We have been watching auction of men's (players). It is such a big moment for women to have an auction of this sort. The whole thing is exacting. RCB's legacy is big, they have built a big fan-base. Hope we both can together build a big team," Mandhana said.

One of the prominent picks during the first round of auction was Australia's off-spin all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner, who Gautam Adani-owned Gujarat Giants bought for Rs 3.20 crore (USD 386,000).

Gardner and Nat Sciver are the two highest-paid overseas players. Star Australian all-rounder Perry received a cool Rs 1.70 crore (USD 205,000) winning bid from RCB, who also got New Zealand skipper Devine dirt cheap at a base price of Rs 50 lakh.

RCB has already exhausted Rs 7.10 crore out of Rs 12-crore purse on four players and they need to get another 11 players with the rest of the Rs 4.90 crore to have a mandatory squad size of 15 players. The maximum squad strength will be 18 players. UP Warriorz also got England left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone on board for Rs 1.80 crore.

(With inputs from PTI)

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