Rohit Bhandiye
PANAJI
Purvaja Verlekar will be the only cricketer from Goa who will be part of the TATA Women’s Premier League (WPL) player auction 2027. The player auction is set to take place in Kochi, Kerala on 28 October, with 146 players competing for 27 available slots.
The auction pool comprises 119 Indian players, including 22 capped and 97 uncapped players, with 20 slots available for Indian players. The overseas contingent features 27 players including six players from Associate Nations, comprising 14 capped and 13 uncapped players, with seven slots available.
Purvaja’s consistent performance in domestic circuit during 2025-26 season, good strike rate and power-hitting abilities earned her a place in the India ‘A’ squad during England series in June 2026.
In her debut series to England for India ‘A’ squad, the 25-year-old girl from Mapusa put an impressive performance in the two T20 matches she got to play.
In both the matches, the young batter came in at No 3, and played her strokes without being overawed by the conditions.
In the first match, Purvaja scored 23 runs off 27 balls which included four boundaries and a strike rate of above 85 per cent. In the second match, Purvaja improved on her batting scoring 30 runs from 25 balls at a strike rate of 120 which included five boundaries.
In recent times, Purvaja has been impressive with the bat. Her knock of 166 not out against Hyderabad in the Senior Women's One Day Trophy in February 2026 and 103 not out for South Zone against North Zone in the Senior Women's Inter Zonal One Day tournament in March 2026, got her noticed at the national level. In both these tournaments, Purvaja’s strike rate was very good.
Apart from batting, Purvaja can contribute with the ball as an off-spinner thereby proving to be a valuable all-rounder to the team.
During TATA WPL player auction 2027, Purvaja is among the 97 uncapped players and has a base price of Rs. 10 lakhs.
Shikha Pandey is the only other cricketer from Goa who has played in WPL. She has played 35 matches in four seasons representing Delhi Capitals from 2023-2025 and UP Warriorz during 2026 season. In 35 matches, Shikha has taken 37 wickets at an average of 25.30. During 2026 season, Shikha was bought by UP Warriorz for ₹2.4 crore, making her one of the top picks of the auction. For 2027 season, Shikha has been retained by UP Warriorz.
If Purvaja gets selected for WPL 2027, she will become only the second cricketer from Goa after Shikha Pandey to play in WPL.
