Modern cricket nowadays centres around franchise cricket, whether traditional fans like it or not. And in franchise cricket, player recruitment is often its most eye-catching segment as players receive fabulous pay cheques for a few weeks of work. Indian franchise cricket has made that into a spectacle as well, with <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/cricket/2023/12/11/wpl-2024-womens-cricket-salaries/" target="_blank">player auctions </a>attracting a sizeable number of eyeballs, not only from hopeful cricketers but also cricket fans who want to see how much teams are willing to spend to acquire the services of top players. This year's <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/cricket/2023/02/13/womens-cricketers-hit-jackpot-during-wpl-2023-player-auction/" target="_blank">Women's Premier League </a>had a similar story. The tournament held a mini auction in Bengaluru with a limited pool of 124 players (91 Indian and 29 overseas) fighting for a handful of spots in the five franchises – Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz. While all the top players in the women's game had already been retained, there were some talented players who were in the auction pool and they attracted decent bids. Among them, Mumbai cricketer Simran Shaikh emerged as the most sought-after player, eventually snapped up by Gujarat Giants for $224,000. Veteran West Indies player Deandra Dottin was also in high demand, attracting a bid of $200,000 from Gujarat. The mini auction proved once again the growing popularity of the T20 league, which has become one of the most valuable products in the women's game. The Indian cricket board earned a staggering $570 million from bids for the five franchises, while broadcast rights for the tournament went for over $110m. That made the WPL the second most valuable women's sports league after the WNBA. Following the latest player auction, here are the highest-paid women's cricketers in WPL. Indian batting star Smriti Mandhana remains the top-earning cricketer in the game with a salary of close to half a million dollars. 1. Smriti Mandhana (Bengaluru): 34 million rupees ($400,000) 2. Ashleigh Gardner (Gujarat): 32 million rupees ($377,000) 3. Natalie Sciver-Brunt (Mumbai): 32 million rupees ($377,000) 4. Deepti Sharma (UP): 26 million rupees ($306,000) 5. Jemimah Rodrigues (Delhi): 22 million rupees ($260,000) 6. Beth Mooney (Gujarat): 20 million rupees ($235,000) 7. Shafali Verma (Delhi): 20 million rupees ($235,000) 8. Annabel Sutherland (Delhi): 20 million rupees ($235,000) 9. Kashvee Gautam (Gujarat): 20 million rupees ($235,000) 10. Pooja Vastrakar (Mumbai): 19 million rupees ($224,000) 11. Richa Ghosh (Bengaluru): 19m rupees ($224,000) 12. Simran Shaikh* (Gujarat): 19 million rupees ($224,000) 13. Sophie Ecclestone (UP): 18 million rupees ($212,000) 14. Harmanpreet Kaur (Mumbai): 18 million rupees ($212,000) 15. Deandra Dottin* (Gujarat): 17 million rupees ($200,000) 16. Ellyse Perry (Bengaluru): 17 million rupees ($200,000) 17. G Kamilini* (Mumbai): 16 million rupees ($188,000) 18. Renuka Singh (Bengaluru): 15 million rupees ($176,000) 19. Yastika Bhatia (Mumbai): 15 million rupees ($176,000) 20. Marizanne Kapp (Delhi): 15 million rupees ($176,000) * denotes new recruits