Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shikha Pandey, Yastika Bhatia and Dayalan Hemalatha have found teams in the second WBBL overseas draft held on Sunday.
The five players join Smriti Mandhana, who already signed a pre-draft deal with Adelaide Strikers, as the Indian players to participate in tenth season of the WBBL. Overall, six Indian players will feature in the WBBL, the most for an edition of the tournament.
Jemimah and Deepti were amongst the major picks in the first round of the draft. Entering as seventh pick in first round, Jemimah was picked by Brisbane Heat, marking her reunion with her WPL and WCPL team-mate Jess Jonassen.
On the other hand, Deepti, coming in as fourth player of the first round, was drafted in by Melbourne Stars, where she will play alongside Meg Lanning. The duo recently turned out for London Spirit in the title-winning women’s Hundred last month.
Laura Wolvaardt (Strikers), Heather Knight (Sydney Thunder) and Sophie Ecclestone (Sydney Sixers) were retentions from first round, while Sophie Devine was a pre-draft signing made by Perth Scorchers. Danni Wyatt (Hobart Hurricanes) and Deandra Dottin (Melbourne Renegades) were other picks from round one.
Shikha was the third Indian player to be selected in the draft, signed by Brisbane Heat in the second round, and marking her reunion with Jemimah and Jess. Yastika was roped in by Stars as their third pick of the draft and reunites with Deepti there, while Hemalatha was the first pick in the third round of the draft and went to Scorchers, where she reunites with her Gujarat Giants skipper Beth Mooney.
A surprise pick in the overseas draft was Ireland’s Orla Prendergast being roped in by Strikers. South Africa all-rounder Nadine de Klerk was Heat’s third pick from the draft, while her fellow Proteas team-mate Chloe Tryon was taken in by Hurricanes and tearaway pacer Shabnim Ismail was taken in by Thunder.
England all-rounder Alice Capsey was taken in by the Renegades, while her team-mate, wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones was roped in by Scorchers, and country-mates Hollie Armitage and Georgia Adams picked by Sixers and Thunder respectively. The 2024 WBBL season will be held from October 27 to December 1.
2024 WBBL overseas draft results:
Sophie Ecclestone (Sydney Sixers, Platinum, Retention Pick)
Heather Knight (Sydney Thunder, Platinum, Retention Pick)
Laura Wolvaardt (Adelaide Strikers, Platinum, Retention Pick)
Danni Wyatt (Hobart Hurricanes, Platinum)
Deandra Dottin (Melbourne Renegades, Platinum)
Deepti Sharma (Melbourne Stars, Platinum)
Jemimah Rodrigues (Brisbane Heat, Platinum)
Sophie Devine (Perth Scorchers, Platinum, Pre-Signed Player)
Chloe Tryon (Hobart Hurricanes, Gold)
Amelia Kerr (Sydney Sixers, Platinum, Pre-Signed Player)
Hayley Matthews (Melbourne Renegades, Platinum, Pre-Signed Player)
Marizanne Kapp (Melbourne Stars, Platinum, Pre-Signed Player)
Shabnim Ismail (Sydney Thunder, Platinum)
Shikha Pandey (Brisbane Heat, Gold)
Amy Jones (Perth Scorchers, Gold)
Hemalatha Dayalan (Perth Scorchers, Silver)
Alice Capsey (Melbourne Renegades, Gold)
Chamari Athapaththu (Sydney Thunder, Gold, Pre-Signed Player)
Yastika Bhatia (Melbourne Stars, Silver)
Smriti Mandhana (Adelaide Strikers, Silver, Pre-Signed Player)
Lizelle Lee (Hobart Hurricanes, Gold, Pre-Signed Player)
Hollie Armitage (Sydney Sixers, Bronze)
Orla Prendergast (Adelaide Strikers, Bronze)
Georgia Adams (Sydney Thunder, Bronze)
Nadine De Klerk (Brisbane Heat, Bronze, Pre-Signed Player)