The inaugural Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) overseas draft, which took place on Sunday, saw India captain Harmanpreet Kaur as the only player from her country to be selected.
Harmanpreet was placed in the highly sought-after platinum category of the draft and was chosen by Melbourne Renegades, who also picked up West Indies captain Hayley Matthews.
Despite a total of 18 Indian players, including Yastika Bhatia, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Deepti Sharma, featuring in the draft, none were selected.
Harmanpreet’s retention by the Renegades, along with Hayley Matthews, was not surprising given her outstanding performance during the 2021-22 season.
Throughout 12 innings, Harmanpreet scored an impressive 406 runs, averaging 58.00 with a strike rate of 130.96, including three half-centuries and a top score of 81 not out.
She was also effective with the ball, taking 15 wickets at an economy of 7.45, with best figures of 3 for 22.
Harmanpreet had made her WBBL debut with Sydney Thunder in the 2016-17 season.
Renegades head coach Simon Helmot expressed his satisfaction with the retention of both Harmanpreet and Hayley, stating “I’m so pleased we got both of them and I’m looking forward to them working with us again this year.
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It was a tough decision – do we go Harmanpreet at pick three, or do we go Hayley?
Fortunately, it worked out for us that Harmanpreet was still available in the second round, so we could still get her as a Platinum pick.”
Harmanpreet’s impressive resume boasts a long list of domestic franchise T20 teams, including Lancashire Thunder, Supernovas, Manchester Originals, and Trent Rockets (The Hundred), as well as Mumbai Indians (Women’s Premier League).
