Kashvee Gautam and Vrinda Dinesh became the most expensive uncapped players in the history of the WPL after they were bought for INR 2 crore and INR 1.3 crore, respectively during the 2024 Women’s Premier League auction.
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Both Kashvee and Vrinda had a base price of INR 10 lakh and were involved in bidding wars, before the former was brought by Gujarat Giants, with the latter going to UP Warriorz.
Who is Kashvee Gautam?
The Chandigarh seamer first burst onto the scene when she picked up all ten wickets in an innings in an Under-19 domestic tournament in February 2020 against Arunachal Pradesh, a game after she took a seven-for against Jammu and Kashmir. Having broken into the Punjab state team in 2017, Kashvee switched to Chandigarh, where she was also born, in 2019.
A year later, she became the first Indian bowler to get all ten wickets in a domestic one-day game, with six wickets coming as lbws and four bowled, highlighting her accuracy. She also bagged a hat-trick en route to the feat. It helped her get a spot in the Women’s T20 Challenge.
The tall hit-the-deck bowler who considers Bhuvneshwar Kumar as her inspiration looked to increase her pace after she was unsold in the 2022 WPL.
10 Lakh to 2 CR 😲
🇮🇳 Uncapped bowler Kashvee Gautam attracts a gigantic bid of 2 CR from her base price of 10 Lakh by Gujarat Giants. #CricketTwitter | #WPLAuction | #WPL2024 pic.twitter.com/ciS7XpekPm
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) December 9, 2023
Kashvee, 20, was a part of India A’s triumphant Under-23 squad for the ACC Emerging tournament in Hong Kong and recently claimed another hat-trick in the BCCI Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal T20 Trophy in Lucknow.
She picked up 12 wickets in seven games at an economy rate of 4.14 in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy and recently played two games during the India A series against England, claiming three scalps.
Kashvee is also known to have the ability to hit big sixes lower down the order.
Who is Vrinda Dinesh?
The 22-year-old averaged 87 with the bat in the 2021-22 Women’s Senior One Day Trophy for Karnataka, making 348 runs with two hundreds and as many fifties. She followed it up with a stunning 2022-23 season, where she made 477 runs in the Senior One Day competition at an average of 84.27. She also scored 196 runs in five Inter-Zonal one-day matches.
It allowed her to play for the India A team against England, and though she only made 35 runs in three games, it was not enough to deter the Warriorz.
Uncapped 🇮🇳 Vrinda Dinesh attracts a mammoth bid of 1.3 CR by UP Warriorz 🤩#CricketTwitter | #WPLAuction | #WPL2024 pic.twitter.com/ETCQAZ8PaF
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) December 9, 2023
Vrinda played a big role in India A’s win in the Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup earlier this year, making 36 off 29 balls on a tricky surface. It helped India post 127 on the board, which proved to be 31 too many for Bangladesh A. A last-minute selection in the squad after a late injury to S Yashasri, Vrinda made the XI for the final after Muskan Malik’s kit arrived late.
