Harmanpreet Kaur the only Indian player to be picked in inaugural WBBL overseas draft

Melbourne, Sep 3 (IANS) India captain Harmanpreet Kaur was the only player from the country selected in the inaugural Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) overseas draft, held on Sunday. She was placed in the platinum category of the draft and was picked by Melbourne Renegades, who also drafted in West Indies captain Hayley Matthews.

Harmanpreet returns to the Renegades and the WBBL after missing last season due to injury. She was the Player of the Tournament in WBBL season seven, after being the Renegades’ leading run-scorer (406) and wicket-taker (15). She recently represented the Trent Rockets in The Hundred, and led the Mumbai Indians to the inaugural Women’s IPL title earlier this year.

"I’m so pleased we got both of them and I’m looking forward to them working with us again this year. 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.”

"We know in T20 cricket, experience is the key. It’s a great help for Sophie (Molineux) and I – more information, more knowledge and more experience. They’ve got an edge about them, they play hard and that’s what the Renegades need to do this year,” said head coach Simon Helmot.

The likes of Yastika Bhatia, Harleen Deol, Hurley Gala, Richa Ghosh, Mannat Kashyap, Amanjot Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Shreyanka Patil, Sneh Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Meghana Sabbineni, Deepti Sharma, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Pooja Vastrakar and Radha Yadav were not picked by any of eight WBBL franchises.

In the first-ever WBBL overseas draft, Sydney Thunder claimed South African all-rounder Marizanne Kapp as pick one. Arguably the leading all-rounder in the game, Kapp will pull on the lime green for the first time having spent the last two seasons with the Perth Scorchers.

Despite the best efforts of the Renegades to pick New Zealand captain Sophie Devine, the Scorchers elected to retain their superstar captain. Melbourne Stars picked England’s star all-rounder Alice Capsey while former South Africa pacer Shabnim Ismail found a new home in Hobart Hurricanes.

New Zealand all-rounder Amelia Kerr will stay in Brisbane after being selected by the Heat, while South Africa’s spinning all-rounder, Chloe Tryon was picked up by the Sydney Sixers to round out the first round with the Adelaide Strikers opting to pass.

Round two saw the Strikers use a retention pick on Laura Wolvaardt, while Heather Knight, and Maia Bouchier return to Thunder and Stars respectively. Bryony Smith found a home at the Hurricanes, while Danni Wyatt will feature for the Scorchers for the first time.

The English trio of Dani Gibson (Strikers), Lauren Bell (Thunder) and Bess Heath (Heat) were the only players picked up in round three, while New Zealand's Jessica Kerr (Sixers), also the sister of Amelia, was the sole pick in the final round.

"A big congratulations must go to Marizanne Kapp on being the first player picked in the inaugural WBBL Overseas Play Draft. It was a star-studded list of players to choose from and obviously a tough choice for the Scorchers to make in terms of who they'd retain, but Marizanne is a world-class player and we're wrapped to have her back in the WBBL this season."

"It was pleasing to see some new faces picked up, with the likes of Lauren Bell and Dani Gibson set to feature in the tournament for the first time. There's no doubt the first WBBL Draft has been a huge success and we look forward to seeing how the BBL Draft plays out this evening," said Alistair Dobson, Cricket Australia’s General Manager, Big Bash Leagues.

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