"I Am Shocked"- Mumbai Indians Coach On Chamari Athapaththu Going Unsold In WPL Auction 2024

Chamari Athapaththu was one of the many renowned women cricketers who remained unsold in the WPL 2024 auction. A total of 30 cricketers including nine overseas cricketers were sold at the auction.

A total of 12,75,00,000 purse spent by all the franchises. All five teams have now built a squad of 18 players each. Uncapped India pacer Kashvee Gautam and Australia all-rounder Annabel Sutherland were sold for 2 crores each at the auction. Gautam went to Gujarat Giants whereas Sutherland was picked by Delhi Capitals.

Athapaththu did not find a bidder despite being one of the best batters in international cricket. She went unsold even in the first edition of the WPL. The Twitterverse was in shock to see the Sri Lankan skipper going unsold at the auction.

Thought She Was Going To Be One Of The Top Three Picks: Charlotte Edwards On Chamari Athapaththu

Even Charlotte Edwards, the former England women’s team skipper and current Mumbai Indians women’s coach was shocked to see the veteran cricketer go unsold at the auction

“I thought she was going to be one of the top three picks, I’m shocked she didn’t get taken. She’s a high-quality player who has performed brilliantly over the last 12 months in franchise cricket,” Mumbai Indians coach Charlotte Edwards.

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Chamari Athapaththu scored 511 runs at an average of 42.58 and a strike rate of 129.69 and picked nine wickets at an economy of 6.79 in the tournament.

The veteran women’s cricketer has scored 5906 international runs for Sri Lanka in over 200 matches. She has also scored nine hundreds and 23 fifties in her career so far.

Meanwhile, five of the nine overseas cricketers bought in the auction were Australian cricketers. Annabel Sutherland who was roped in by the Delhi Capitals franchise expressed her excitement at joining the DC franchise.

“I’m very excited to be joining the Delhi Capitals. I have heard great things about the setup and can’t wait to join the group and make a contribution to the team,” the 22-year-old all-rounder told Cricbuzz on Saturday.

Delhi was involved in a huge bidding war with Mumbai to rope in her services in the end. Sutherland has played three Tests, 23 ODIs, and 22 T20Is. Her base price was just 40 lakhs heading into the auction.

Also Read: WPL Auction 2024: List Of All Players Who Remained Unsold In The WPL Auction