Rishabh Pant, Ishant Sharma, Ayush Badoni and Harshit Rana were among the key picks at the player draft of the inaugural Delhi Premier League (DPL) on Friday. The draft featured 270 players from across Delhi including those who played for India's senior and Under-19 teams and the IPL. A notable absentee in the player draft was fast bowler Mayank Yadav, who impressed with his pace for Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2024 but was ruled out due to injury.
Purani Dilli 6 picked Pant and Ishant while North Delhi Strikers drafted Rana in and Badoni was the first pick for South Delhi Superstars. Central Delhi Kings drafted in former India Under-19 captain Yash Dhull and legspinner Prince Choudhary.
Pant and Ishant aside, Purani Dilli 6 also drafted in offspin-allrounder Lalit Yadav, who played for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2024, batting allrounder Shivam Sharma and right-arm fast bowler Prince Yadav.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) wicketkeeper Anuj Rawat and CSK fast bowler Simarjeet Singh were the first couple of picks for East Delhi Riders. Fast bowler Navdeep Saini and former Mumbai Indians spinner Hrithik Shokeen were the first two picks for West Delhi Lions. Priyansh Arya, who was the leading run-scorer for Delhi in the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy last year, was drafted by South Delhi Superstars, who also got left-arm fast bowler Kuldip Yadav as their second pick. Kuldip made his IPL debut in 2023 for Rajasthan Royals
Sehrawat leads the pick for women
Batter Shweta Sehrawat, who was India's vice-captain in the inaugural Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup early last year, was the top pick for South Delhi Superstars while opener Priya Punia, who made her ODI comeback this year in Bangladesh, will play for East Delhi Riders.
Wicketkeeper Laxmi Yadav, who was with UP Warriorz in the Women's Premier League (WPL), was drafted by Central Delhi Queens while hard-hitter Ayushi Soni and seamer Soni Yadav were picked by North Delhi Strikers.
The top four bidders for teams in the men's franchise auction also secured the teams for the women's DPL.
The inaugural DPL will be played from August 17 to September 8, 2024 with all matches at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. The men's competition will consist of 33 games while the women's competition will have seven matches.