Smriti Mandhana, the WPL captain, and wicketkeeper batter Richa Ghosh were the only Indians to be selected in the Hundred Draft in London.
Smriti Mandhana, the WPL champion, and wicketkeeper batter Richa Ghosh were the only Indian players to find takers during the Hundred Draft in London. Mandhana, who led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the WPL title last Sunday, has been signed by Southern Brave Women’s, while teammate Richa has joined Birmingham Phoenix Women’s. Mandhana, who bats left-handed, had a successful run in the WPL, scoring 300 runs from 10 matches with two fifties, while Richa, who frequently played the position of finisher, scored 257 runs from 10 matches with two half-centuries and a strike rate of 142.
Mandhana had already been a member of the Braves’ locker room, and she worked alongside Luke Williams here before he joined RCB as coach for the WPL 2024 season.
Richa joins the Phoenix for the second time in the Hundred, having previously worn the London Spirit jersey.
However, some of the 17 Indian players registered for the draft, including Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Shreyanka Patil, were unable to find buyers.
Shreyanka, who played for RCB, took the most wickets in this season’s WPL, with 13 in eight matches.
However, they still have a chance to make the Hundred because each team can add one more international player using Vitality Wild Cards.