Delhi: The WPL 2027 mini-auction in Kochi has given a special and clear message to cricket: WPL has now moved beyond the era of hasty and big risk bids, to a situation where team needs and financial calculations will be given full importance. This time anyway, every franchise had its main team almost ready, so instead of running after star players, they were trying to overcome the shortcomings of the team within the limited budget.

Everyone had come looking for backup. There was a total of Rs 8.15 crore in the purse of the teams, out of which Rs 6.25 crore was spent and 25 out of 27 slots were filled. See 10 special and amazing facts about WPL auction:

1. More purchases at base price: Of the 25 players sold in the auction, 22 were bought at their base-price. Only three players got more than the base price, which means the franchise did not spend the money on emotions. 13 players got the lowest price of Rs 10 lakh. Only 4 players went above Rs 40 lakh.

2 Sophie Molyneux The Only 'Millionaire': Australian captain Sophie, who won the T20 World Cup, was bought by UP Warriors for Rs 1.10 crore and she was the only player in this auction whose price crossed the Rs 1 crore mark.

Only two 'bidding wars' were witnessed in the true sense:
– RCB went up to Rs 1.05 crore for Sophie Molineux but UP Warriors bought him for Rs 1.10 crore.
– Mumbai Indians went up to Rs 70 lakh for Kiran Navgire while Delhi Capitals got him for Rs 75 lakh.

3. Impact of a single trade on auction: Tara Norris went from UP Warriors to Mumbai Indians and this single trade affected the action of both the teams.

Mumbai now had no slots for foreign players and their entire focus remained only on domestic players.

History created at the age of 4.15: As soon as the age of 15 years is mentioned, the name of Vaibhav Suryavanshi comes to mind, but this time another name shines. 15-year-old all-rounder Uma Kashvi was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 10 lakh and became the youngest player to be included in the WPL team.

5. Foreign glitter did not find buyer: If the slots were less, the money was also less.

Therefore, glitter and big names remained on the backfoot. Sri Lanka's legendary captain Chamari Athapaththu and England's opener Sophia Dunkley were not bought by any team.

6. Grace Harris got a great deal: In this period too, UP Warriors bid very wisely and included dangerous Australian batsman Grace Harris in their team for just Rs 30 lakh. Harris has played for the title-winning RCB team and this deal will be considered one of the most economical and best buys in the WPL, and not just for this auction.

7. Economic strategy of Mumbai Indians: They had only Rs 90 lakh in their purse and they still took 6 players.

All 6 such Indians (including Disha Cassatt and Latika Inamdar) who have not played international cricket yet and still saved Rs 20 lakh. The price drop was the result of such strategies like Shobhana came from Rs 1.1 crore to Rs 30 lakh, Harris came from Rs 75 lakh to Rs 30 lakh, Sneh Rana came from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 30 lakh and most importantly Vrinda Dinesh came from Rs 1.3 crore to Rs 10 lakh i.e. the same player, but this time at a much lower price.

8. Focus remained on young talent: The experience was already there. Therefore, there was more attention on the players who performed well in the domestic tournament. For example, 16-year-old Samaira Raghav was signed by Gujarat Giants for Rs 10 lakh. Samaira's name had shone in Delhi Premier League in helping her team win the title. Just a day after playing brilliantly for Vidarbha in the Senior Women's T20 Trophy, Disha Kasat and Latika Inamdar got contracts.

9. Slots left vacant: It is not that there was no money left even worth the base price. Even then two slots remained vacant and the teams withdrew the money from their purse. Had made up my mind that why increase my expenses just to make me sit on the bench?

10. Heart touching story of auction: The most beautiful story was Delhi Capitals taking uncapped player Najma Khan into their team. Soon after, Najma's one year old Instagram message, which she had sent to her idol Jemimah Rodrigues, went viral in which she had expressed the hope that one day both of them would win the trophy together. There are moments of human emotion associated with these corporate auctions too.