Meet 16-year-old Kamalini who bagged staggering Rs16 million in WPL auction

Bengaluru: This year’s Indian Premier League auctions have focused heavily on youngsters. Recently Indian teenager Vaibhav Suryavanshi, 13, was all over the news when he was bagged for a whopping Rs11 million in the IPL auction by Rajasthan Royals.

Now the focus shifts to Women’s Premier League and it’s 16-year-old G Kamalini who has been drawing all the attention. The uncapped youngster from Tamil Nadu bagged a staggering Rs16 million by Mumbai Indians at the 2025 auction in Bengaluru.

Both Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals were involved in a bidding war for Kamalini whose base price was a modest Rs1 million.

Who is Kamalini?

A left-handed batter and wicketkeeper from Tamil Nadu, Kamalini was born in July 2008. She made a huge impact at the domestic and international circuits and is known for explosive batting.

Her breakthrough year came in 2023 where she was the second-highest scorer in the under-19 Women’s T20 Trophy. She scored a total of 311 runs in eight matches and leading Tamil Nadu to victory. She smashed 10 sixes during the tournament that earned her recognition at the national stage. Playing for India ‘B’ in the U-19 tri-series recently, she smashed an impressive 79 against South Africa.

She was also part of the Indian team in the inaugural U-19 Women’s Asia Cup held in Malaysia.

The teenager impressed everyone with some fluent knocks with the performance against Pakistan standing out. She scored 44 runs off just 29 deliveries as India defeated Pakistan by nine wickets. Her innings was studded with four boundaries and three sixes.

Kamalini also trained at the Super Kings Academy in Chennai during her initial cricketing days.

Other big buys

Mumbai cricketer Simran Shaikh on Sunday emerged as the highest-valued player, with Gujarat Giants securing her for Rs 19 million.

The 22-year-old middle-order batter previously represented UP Warriorz in the 2023 WPL season. She has accumulated 176 runs in 11 matches for Mumbai, averaging 22 with a strike rate of 100.57.

Gujarat Giants brought West Indies cricketer Deandra Dottin for a massive amount of Rs17 million. The Caribbean cricketer was one of the three players with a reserve price of Rs5 million.

Gujarat Giants also bought Simran Shaikh for Rs19 million that made her the most expensive buy of the afternoon on Sunday.

Nandini Kashyap found her new home when she was roped in by Delhi Capitals for an amount of Rs1 million. The Uttarakhand wicketkeeper was recently named in India’s T20I squad for the upcoming series against West Indies.

This year’s auction has featured 120 players, including 91 Indian and 29 overseas cricketers, three of whom are from Associate Nations. Among the players, 82 are uncapped Indian cricketers, while 8 are uncapped overseas players.