WPL 2027 auction: UP Warriorz buy Australia captain Sophie Molineux for INR 1.10 crore, Athapaththu unsold

UP Warriorz bought Australia captain Sophie Molineux for INR 1.10 crore, the top price in the early bidding at the WPL 2027 auction in Kochi on Wednesday 28 October, ESPNcricinfo reported. Her former team Royal Challengers Bengaluru pushed the bid to INR 1.05 crore before dropping out.

Players bought in the first six sets

Unsold so far

• Chamari Athapaththu, Sri Lanka captain, base price INR 30 lakh.
• Sophia Dunkley, England batter, who had listed herself at the top base price of INR 50 lakh.
• Shweta Sehrawat, the only player UP Warriorz retained before the 2026 season.
• Every capped fast bowler and spinner in the first round, ESPNcricinfo noted.

Why Molineux went so high

Molineux led Australia to their seventh T20 World Cup title in July and is their leading wicket-taker this year. UP Warriorz had the biggest purse, INR 3.75 crore, and eight places to fill after releasing nine players. RCB, the defending champions, came in with just INR 1.15 crore and had not bought anyone after six sets. Mumbai Indians, with the smallest purse of INR 90 lakh, bought all three uncapped players sold so far.

G Kamalini, whom Mumbai bought for INR 1.60 crore before the 2025 season, went to Gujarat for her INR 40 lakh base price, and Ireland all-rounder Orla Prendergast gets her first WPL contract. Sneh Rana joins her fourth WPL team and will play under Meg Lanning alongside Deepti Sharma.

Pakistan and the WPL

Pakistan players do not take part in the WPL. For Pakistan women's fixtures and squad, see our Pakistan women's cricket page; India women's 3-0 ODI sweep of Zimbabwe on Wednesday, led by Vaishnavi Sharma's 5 for 39, is on our India women vs Zimbabwe page.

This report covers the opening rounds; the auction was still running at the time of writing.