Apoorv Wankhade emerged as the costliest player in the Vidarbha Premier League Season 2 Players' Auction, held in the city on Sunday.
The auction was conducted by renowned Sports Presenter and Auctioneer Mr Charu Sharma. The event was telecast live on Sony Ten 5 and the YouTube channel.
VPL franchise Nagpur Heroz won an exciting bidding war with fellow franchises to land the big-hitting Wankhade for a whopping Rs 8.2 lakh. The player’s base price was Rs 2.5 lakh. Orange Tigers made two expensive buys, picking up Vishesh Ram Tiwari (base price Rs 1.5 Lakh) for Rs 7 lakh and Dhruv Shorey (base price Rs 2.5 Lakh) for Rs 5 lakh.
Vidarbha all-rounder Nachiket Bhute (Base price Rs 2.5 lakh) went for Rs 6.6 lakh to Bharat Rangers, while Pagariya Strikers paid Rs 6.2 lakh for veteran all-rounder R Sanjay (base price Rs 1.5 Lakh).
Darshan Nalkande (base price Rs 2.5 Lakh) was bought for Rs 6.2 lakh by India Warriors, who also surprised by spending Rs 6 lakh on Kunal Nagar (base price Rs 1 Lakh).
Surprisingly Vidarbha pacer Praful Hinge, who recently created IPL history by picking up three wickets in his very first over in his debut match for SRH, only went for Rs 2.5 lakh, which was his base price.
Ditto for Vidarbha stalwart Umesh Yadav. The former India international, who will be playing in the VPL for the first time, will turn out for Nagpur Heroz, who picked him up at his base price of Rs 2.5 lakh.
Vidarbha’s white-ball captain Harsh Dubey fetched only Rs 3.2 lakh at the auction and he will turn out for defending champions NECO Master Blaster. Each team picked up 16 players, including retentions, and spent nearly Rs 42 lakh each in building their teams for the ensuing tournament which will be played from June 1-14, 2026.
WOMEN’S SQUADS ANNOUNCED
The VPL Governing Council also announced the squads for the women’s competition to be played during the same period.
There was no auction of women’s players. The VCA added a fourth team to the competition after the Pagariya Strikers successfully bid for it. VCA’s women selection committee picked all four squads, each comprising 16 players. The team lists were handed over to the respective franchise owners at the end of the auction.
Bharti Fulmali, who played for the NECO Master Blaster last season, was withdrawn from the team after she was named to the Indian team for the ICC Women’s World Cup T20 to be played in England in June. The selectors named Shraddha Nabira as captain of the side in place of Fulmali.
Even though the selectors were forced to withdraw Fulmali from the squad because of her unavailability, they made it clear that she continues to be NECO Master Blasters player.