Chamari Athapaththu reacts after going unsold at WPL 2024 auction
Sri Lanka women’s batter Chamari Athapaththu has shared a cryptic post on her instagram story after she went unsold in the recently concluded at the Women’s Premier League 2024 Auction in Mumbai.
There were a lot of expectations that Athapaththu would get on the board of one of the five WPL franchises following her exploits in WBBL 2023 but surprisingly, she didn’t find any buyer at the auction. The 33-year-old was listed at the base price of ₹ 30 lakhs at the mini-auction, which was held on November 9.
A couple of days after going unsold at the WPL 2024 Auction, Chamari Athapaththu posted a motivational story on her Instagram handle, captioned, ‘Actions and Numbers speak louder than words’.
Alongside Chamari Athapaththu, West Indian all-rounder Dendra Dottin, Kim Grath of Australia, England’s Tammy Beaumont, Priya Punia and Devika Vaidya of India were some of the star players who failed to attract bids from either of the Women’s Premier League franchises.
Chamari Athapaththu is regarded as one of the finest batsmen for Sri Lanka women in ODIs and T20Is. The 33-year-old is currently leading Sri Lanka in two formats of the game.
Athapaththu plays an attacking style of batting and unleashes his firepower at the top. She is currently the leading run-scorer for Sri Lanka in ODIs and T20Is, with 3255 runs and 2651 runs respectively. Chamari Athapaththu holds the record for most centuries in ODIs for Sri Lanka (8).
Chamari Athapaththu holds several records for Sri Lanka, including most ODI centuries (8), highest individual ODI score (178), highest ODI batting average (34.77), and the first batter to amass runs in T20Is.
In WBBL 2023, Chamari Athapthathu emerged as the second leading run-scorer of the tournament, aggregating 552 runs, including five half-centuries, at an average of 42.46 and a strike rate of 127.18 in 15 matches.
Interestingly, she was not picked in the WBBL draft but Sydney Thunders added her to the squad as a replacement overseas player. Chamari Athapthathu proved her point and grabbed the opportunity with both hands. (Courtesy Free Press Journal)
