Modern cricket nowadays centres around franchise cricket, whether traditional fans like it or not. And in franchise cricket, player recruitment is often its most eye-catching segment as players receive fabulous pay cheques for a few weeks of work.
Indian franchise cricket has made that into a spectacle as well, with player auctions attracting a sizeable number of eyeballs, not only from hopeful cricketers but also cricket fans who want to see how much teams are willing to spend to acquire the services of top players.
This year's Women's Premier League had a similar story. The tournament held a mini auction in Bengaluru with a limited pool of 124 players (91 Indian and 29 overseas) fighting for a handful of spots in the five franchises – Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz.
While all the top players in the women's game had already been retained, there were some talented players who were in the auction pool and they attracted decent bids.
Among them, Mumbai cricketer Simran Shaikh emerged as the most sought-after player, eventually snapped up by Gujarat Giants for $224,000. Veteran West Indies player Deandra Dottin was also in high demand, attracting a bid of $200,000 from Gujarat.
The mini auction proved once again the growing popularity of the T20 league, which has become one of the most valuable products in the women's game.
The Indian cricket board earned a staggering $570 million from bids for the five franchises, while broadcast rights for the tournament went for over $110m. That made the WPL the second most valuable women's sports league after the WNBA.
Following the latest player auction, here are the highest-paid women's cricketers in WPL. Indian batting star Smriti Mandhana remains the top-earning cricketer in the game with a salary of close to half a million dollars.
Highest-paid cricketers in WPL 2025
1. Smriti Mandhana (Bengaluru): 34 million rupees ($400,000)
2. Ashleigh Gardner (Gujarat): 32 million rupees ($377,000)
3. Natalie Sciver-Brunt (Mumbai): 32 million rupees ($377,000)
4. Deepti Sharma (UP): 26 million rupees ($306,000)
5. Jemimah Rodrigues (Delhi): 22 million rupees ($260,000)
6. Beth Mooney (Gujarat): 20 million rupees ($235,000)
7. Shafali Verma (Delhi): 20 million rupees ($235,000)
8. Annabel Sutherland (Delhi): 20 million rupees ($235,000)
9. Kashvee Gautam (Gujarat): 20 million rupees ($235,000)
10. Pooja Vastrakar (Mumbai): 19 million rupees ($224,000)
11. Richa Ghosh (Bengaluru): 19m rupees ($224,000)
12. Simran Shaikh* (Gujarat): 19 million rupees ($224,000)
13. Sophie Ecclestone (UP): 18 million rupees ($212,000)
14. Harmanpreet Kaur (Mumbai): 18 million rupees ($212,000)
15. Deandra Dottin* (Gujarat): 17 million rupees ($200,000)
16. Ellyse Perry (Bengaluru): 17 million rupees ($200,000)
17. G Kamilini* (Mumbai): 16 million rupees ($188,000)
18. Renuka Singh (Bengaluru): 15 million rupees ($176,000)
19. Yastika Bhatia (Mumbai): 15 million rupees ($176,000)
20. Marizanne Kapp (Delhi): 15 million rupees ($176,000)
* denotes new recruits
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: BorrowMe (BorrowMe.com)
Date started: August 2021
Founder: Nour Sabri
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce / Marketplace
Size: Two employees
Funding stage: Seed investment
Initial investment: $200,000
Investors: Amr Manaa (director, PwC Middle East)
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Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Opening weekend Premier League fixtures
Weekend of August 10-13
Arsenal v Manchester City
Bournemouth v Cardiff City
Fulham v Crystal Palace
Huddersfield Town v Chelsea
Liverpool v West Ham United
Manchester United v Leicester City
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur
Southampton v Burnley
Watford v Brighton & Hove Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Everton
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Explainer: Tanween Design Programme
Non-profit arts studio Tashkeel launched this annual initiative with the intention of supporting budding designers in the UAE. This year, three talents were chosen from hundreds of applicants to be a part of the sixth creative development programme. These are architect Abdulla Al Mulla, interior designer Lana El Samman and graphic designer Yara Habib.
The trio have been guided by experts from the industry over the course of nine months, as they developed their own products that merge their unique styles with traditional elements of Emirati design. This includes laboratory sessions, experimental and collaborative practice, investigation of new business models and evaluation.
It is led by British contemporary design project specialist Helen Voce and mentor Kevin Badni, and offers participants access to experts from across the world, including the likes of UK designer Gareth Neal and multidisciplinary designer and entrepreneur, Sheikh Salem Al Qassimi.
The final pieces are being revealed in a worldwide limited-edition release on the first day of Downtown Designs at Dubai Design Week 2019. Tashkeel will be at stand E31 at the exhibition.
Lisa Ball-Lechgar, deputy director of Tashkeel, said: “The diversity and calibre of the applicants this year … is reflective of the dynamic change that the UAE art and design industry is witnessing, with young creators resolute in making their bold design ideas a reality.”
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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