'Matlab yeh trophy nahi jeetegi Kabhi' - Fans react as Bangalore franchise bags Smriti Mandhana for whopping amount in Women's T20 League auction

Bangalore robs in Smriti Mandhana (Source: Twitter)

The inaugural edition of the Women's T20 League has its players' auction scheduled for Monday, 13 February. Not only will the auction be a step towards the materialization of franchise cricket in the women's game in India, but it will also be a monumental step for developing young Indian women cricketers lacking opportunities to perform at the highest level.

Notably, the very first player of the cuction was India Women's team's biggest star, Smriti Mandhana. She infused an intense bidding war between the Bangalore and the Mumbai franchise. In the end, Bangalore's winning bid of 3.40 crore INR made her a part of Bangalore's plans for the inaugural edition of the Women's T20 League.

Smriti Mandhana remains the costliest buy until the end of Round 2

The 3.40 crore INR price that Mandhana bagged is the highest winning bid till round 2 of the ongoing players' auction. Alongside Mandhana, Bangalore have also bagged New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine, Australian allrounder Ellyse Perry and the pace sensation Renuka Singh to post a strong-looking line-up of players.

Interestingly, Smriti Mandhana is not in good touch. She hasn't performed well in the recently concluded tri-series involving India, West Indies and South Africa. She only has one notable score of 74* in the series, which came against West Indies on 23 January.

In the other four games, she could not get to double figures which is not at all Mandhana-like. So far, she hasn't played a part in the Women's 20-20 World Cup, sustaining an injury. She batted in the warm-up game against Australia but got out for a duck. The fact that she could attract such a high bid despite her recent form speaks volumes about her value to the women's game.

Notably, the players' auction for the Women's T20 League is being conducted by Mallika Sagar, the first woman-auctioneer of Indian origin.

Here's how the fans reacted to the whopping purchase by the Bangalore franchise:

Mandhana to RCB. Matlab yeh trophy nahi jeetegi Kabhi. #RCB #SmritiMandhana

— Cricket Fan 07 (@Manas_pr_sharma) February 13, 2023

Matalab Smiriti mandhana bhi kabhi ipl nhi jayengi? 😂😂😂

— Vishal Yadav (@Vishal_X23) February 13, 2023

Congratulations RCB for Winning first IPL trophy 🥳🥳

— Player of the Decade 👑 (@vk18_GOAT) February 13, 2023

Now I'm gonna support RCB for sure...and honestly if not for CSK in the auction table,I wanted RCB to pick them

— Cric'O'maniac (@Naveen25979920) February 13, 2023

#SmritiMandhana pic.twitter.com/Y4ptds6Au2

— Yamanappa Hallur (@YSHallur483) February 13, 2023

Mi 😂 increased her price 😂😂

— Lala Sampath (@LalaSampath) February 13, 2023

Bhai dhuaan kar rakha hai RCB ne ..first Mandhana, then saste me Sophie Devine and now Perry dream team setting up it seems

— ᐯibhanshu Kumar (@Vibhanshu30) February 13, 2023

Downfall of her career started

— 🐐 (@Kohli0RCBCup) February 13, 2023