The landscape of women's cricket changed forever on Monday as some of the top players attracted massive bids during the auction for the inaugural Women's Premier League T20 tournament.
India opener Smriti Mandhana, England all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt and Australia's Ashleigh Gardner struck gold ahead of the tournament, which begins next month, paving the way for women's cricketers to earn serious money in the game.
Nearly 450 players went under the hammer and about 90 were selected after five franchises entered the auction with a team purse of 120 million rupees ($1.45 million) each.
Bangalore led the way by shelling out 34 million rupees ($410,000) for left-handed batter Mandhana – the premier cricketer in the country.
Sciver-Brunt joined Mumbai Indians, coached by former England captain Charlotte Edwards, for 32 million rupees, which is 10 times more than the highest salary in the women's Hundred competition in England.
The WPL had already become a game-changer after the Indian board earned $572.5m from the bids to own five teams in the league. Also, broadcast rights for the tournament went for $116.7m.
Already, the WPL has become one of the most valued sports brands in the world. The tournament is now said to be the second most valuable women's league after the WNBA.
Former England batter Lydia Greenway said the women's game will change for the better.
She told Viacom18 Sports: "It's massive. The amount that Smriti Mandhana has just gone for is unheard of in our game. You'd be lucky if you made that out of the whole of your career as an international female cricketer, going back a few years.
"It's a life-changing amount of money. It's about the security of it. I know these players can now just focus on playing, but I think for the youngsters, as well to see this happening, hopefully it will just encourage a few more young girls to pick up a cricket bat as well."
Top 20 highest paid women's cricketers in WPL 2023
1. Smriti Mandhana (Bangalore): 34 million rupees ($410,000)
=2. Ashleigh Gardner (Gujarat): 32m rupees ($386,000)
=2. Natalie Sciver-Brunt (Mumbai): 32m rupees ($386,000)
4. Deepti Sharma (UP): 26m rupees ($314,000)
5. Jemimah Rodrigues (Delhi): 22m rupees ($265,000)
=6. Beth Mooney (Gujarat): 20m rupees ($241,000)
=6. Shafali Verma (Delhi): 20m rupees ($241,000)
=8. Pooja Vastrakar (Mumbai): 19m rupees ($230,000)
=8. Richa Ghosh (Bangalore): 19m rupees ($230,000)
=10. Sophie Ecclestone (UP): 18m rupees ($217,000)
=10. Harmanpreet Kaur (Mumbai): 18m rupees ($217,000)
12. Ellyse Perry (Bangalore): 17m rupees ($205,000)
=13. Renuka Singh (Bangalore): 15m rupees ($180,000)
=13. Yastika Bhatia (Mumbai): 15m rupees ($180,000)
=13. Marizanne Kapp (Delhi): 15m rupees ($180,000)
=16. Tahlia McGrath (UP): 14m rupees ($170,000)
=16. Devika Vaidya (UP): 14m rupees ($170,000)
18. Meg Lanning (Delhi): 11m rupees ($132,000)
=19. Shabnim Ismail (UP): 10m rupees ($120,000)
=19. Amelia Kerr (Mumbai): 10m rupees ($120,000)
