WPL 2023: Dinesh Karthik highly impressed by 'terrific auctioneer' Mallika Sagar

The players auction for the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) season was held at the Jio Convention Center in Mumbai on Tuesday, February 13. A total of 59.5 crores were spent by the five participating teams in the WPL 2023 to buy a total of 87 women cricketers. The auction was brilliantly managed by auctioneer Mallika Sagar, who received much praise from all corners of the cricketing world for the same. 

⛏️ Aaand we're back, LIVE again with the #WPLAuction. Here's a shoutout to Mallika Sagar who's done a fabulous job as Auctioneer so far 🫡 pic.twitter.com/0K22c6fRcV

— JioCinema (@JioCinema)

Veteran Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik was one of the big cricketing names to shed his thoughts on Sagar. The 37-year-old took to his official Twitter handle on Monday and termed Mallika as a ‘terrific auctioneer’. He also hailed the BCCI for already making the right choices in the WPL. 

Dinesh Karthik hails BCCI for making right choices in the WPL

“MALLIKA SAGAR is a terrific auctioneer. Confident , clear and very poised. Straight away the right choices in the WPL. Well done @BCCI,” the Royal Challengers Bangalore wicketkeeper wrote. It is pertinent to mention that Sagar is the first-ever female auctioneer to oversee a big cricketing event like the WPL Auction 2023.

MALLIKA SAGAR is a terrific auctioneer

Confident , clear and very poised .

Straight away the right choices in the WPL

Well done @BCCI #WPLAuction #WPL2023

— DK (@DineshKarthik)

Who is Mallika Sagar?

As reported earlier, Mallika is a Mumbai-based art collector and consultant for modern and contemporary Indian art, as well as a partner in the Art India Consultants organization. She previously presided over the  2021 Pro Kabaddi League auctions. In a conversation with Sports 18 ahead of the WPL 2023 Auction, Mallika revealed her thoughts on the historic occasion.

“A historic moment for women’s cricket”

As per a video shared on Twitter by Jio Cinema, on being asked about her feelings, Mallika said, “Very very proud. I am delighted that the cricketers who will be the part of the premier league and I think it is a huge moment, a historic moment for women’s cricket. Finally, Indian women’s cricketers will get their due on the international stage. They will have the ability to play at the highest level and we have seen what the men’s IPL has done when it started. I am hoping we will have the same effect for women’s cricketers as well”.