In the first round of the Women’s Premier League auction, Royal Challengers Bangalore scored a coup by signing three top international cricketers, among them Indian sensation Smriti Mandhana. Mandhana, who has a base salary of INR 50 lakhs, was the first player selected from the marquee group by IPL chairman Arun Dhumal. The T20I vice-captain of India was the subject of an immediate bidding battle between RCB and Mumbai Indians. Mumbai increased the threshold to INR 2.2 crore, which caused RCB to be a little hesitant to move forward before they finally overcame Mumbai with a final bid of INR 3.4 crore.
“Everyone knows Mandhana and Perry, 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 Devine. Smriti has got plenty of captaincy experience and is familiar with the Indian conditions so highly likely [she’ll be captain],” said RCB Director of Cricket, Mike Hesson.