This is a translated version of the story published on ESPNcricinfo Hindi.
Coming into the WPL 2026 auction with the leanest squad and hence the biggest purse, UP Warriorz (UPW) made some heads turn by buying Shikha Pandey for a whopping INR 2.40 crore, using the RTM (right to match) option for Deepti Sharma, whom they had released earlier, and getting England’s left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone for just INR 85 lakh. Their new head coach Abhishek Nayar, who takes over from Jon Lewis from the upcoming season, said they wanted Pandey for her experience and using the RTM for the Indian names was always their plan.
“[Shikha] came for the trials. She is an experienced player and we wanted her experience of having played in high-pressure tournaments,” Nayar told ESPNcricinfo after the auction in Delhi on Thursday. “Her numbers in the WPL are the best among Indian pace bowlers in the last three years, be it in the powerplay or death overs.
“We wanted experience in those aspects. Kranti Gaud is a young and exciting player, but like I said we wanted experience.”
Pandey last played a T20I for India in February 2023 and has since been playing in T20 franchise leagues around the world such as the WPL, the Women’s CPL and the WBBL. Even though she currently doesn’t have a WBBL deal, she recently played all four games for Trinbago Knight Riders in the WCPL and finished as their top wicket-taker with five scalps and an economy rate of 6.73. Overall, she was joint-third on the wicket-taking charts.
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Like Nayar said, Pandey is the top wicket-taker among Indian pace bowlers in the three seasons of WPL, with a tally of 30 (and economy rate of 6.96), just behind Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 32. The next Indian fast bowler on the list is Arundhati Reddy with 14 wickets. Pandey, Gaud, Tara Norris of USA, and allrounder Deandra Dottin will be the pace-bowling options for UPW.
Leading their spin attack will be Deepti and Ecclestone, along with Asha Sobhana, Georgia Wareham and allrounder Chloe Tryon among the other options. While UPW splurged INR 3.2 crore on Deepti, Mumbai Indians spent INR 3 crore on Amelia Kerr, Asha fetched INR 1.1 crore and Georgia Wareham INR 1 crore (from RCB) – all spinners – it came as a surprise to many that Ecclestone got a top bid of just INR 85 lakh, despite being the No. 1 ODI bowler and No. 4 T20I bowler in the ICC rankings.
“I was very surprised, everyone was surprised,” Nayar said of Ecclestone’s price. “I thought she would go for something like 1.5 crore. But we got her for a great deal at just 85 lakh. But that’s how the auction works – sometimes you pay less, sometimes more. So I’ve very happy overall.”
Even before using the RTM for Ecclestone, UPW used that option for Deepti, who led them earlier this season in the absence of Alyssa Healy. While their decision to release Deepti before the auction might have been surprising, using the RTM for her was not.
“We wanted a big purse in the auction, that’s it,” Nayar said. “The first retention price was 3.5 crore, we got her in 3.2 [at the auction]. So, there is still some money saved and we can get an extra player. Getting someone like Pratika Rawal, though she is injured, has become possible.
“So the mindset was we are going to get her (Deepti), that is the advantage of having the RTM. If we didn’t have the RTM, I think things would be different but we were very confident with the RTM, we just wanted to try and use it in the auction.”
UPW went into the auction with four RTM options and used them on Deepti, Ecclestone, Gaud and Kiran Navgire, but not on Healy, who was the first name to come up in the mega auction and she eventually went unsold. UPW filled the opening slot with former Australia captain Meg Lanning, the third-highest run-scorer in the WPL, behind Sciver-Brunt and Ellyse Perry. They also picked Phoebe Litchfield, whom Lanning has earmarked as a future captaincy candidate for Australia. Will Lanning and Litchfield open together for UPW?
“Meg is a leader, we all know,” Nayar said. “Phoebe is also a kind of a leader, we think. She can add a lot of value to the team. She is a fearless cricketer and she can play 360 (degree cricket) or 180. So we were very excited to have someone like that potential and I feel really good to buy her with that money (INR 1.20 crore). But right now we can’t say that they both are going to open for us. If we reveal that here in this interview, teams will already be making strategies about it (laughs).”
Another opening batter UPW bought was India’s ODI opener Rawal, who was prolific in the recent World Cup-winning campaign at the top with Smriti Mandhana, but is yet to make her T20I and WPL debut. She picked up an injury while fielding in India’s last league game in the World Cup and missed the knockouts after that, and may not be fit in time to play the WPL too.
“When you buy a good player there’s no guarantee that she will be fit or not for the season,” Nayar said. “We know that she is not fit right now but we also know that if there’s a superstar rising through Indian cricket, it’s Pratika Rawal. Like I said earlier our attempt was to get those players who can play for India in the long run, are potential superstars, and who can become the face of this franchise. That was an important thing to do because that will be an advantage for the next retention cycle after two years.”
