PANAJI
Inthe recently held WPL 2026 Auction, Goa’s Shikha Pandey was boughtby UP Warriorz at Rs 2.4 crore, the third highest amount among allthe players after Deepti Sharma (Rs. 3.2 crore) and Amelia Kerr (Rs.3 crore). A veteran all-rounder, Shikha has played for India and inWPL for Delhi Capitals with a lot of distinction.
Herbidding amount though surprised many as Shikha was bought by UPWarriorz for Rs. 2.4 crore, six times her base price of Rs. 40 lakh.
“Iwas anxious the whole day before the auction. I am someone who staysin the moment. I told to myself whatever is meant to happen willhappen. I had a very good team in the form of Delhi Capitals.Thoroughly enjoyed playing in that setup and I was hoping to go backto them. But then the whole auction works out in a different way. Iam happy that there were two teams that went on and on. Thats how theprice tag increased. I am happy that I was being valued which is whata cricketer wants sometimes,” said Shikha.
Thegirl from Goa has played in WPL for Delhi Capitals for three seasons- 2023, 2024 and 2025 - taking 30 wickets from 27 matches at anaverage of 23.20.
“Regardingthe price tag, I am not pretty sure. With women's cricket, itsslightly different. The kind of eye-balls and media attention men'scricket gets is not on par with women's cricket. People followingwomen's cricket will know,” she said.
Shikhasaid she really feels for the domestic players who went unsold.
“Ifeel for the players. Everyone talks about international players whowent unsold. But people do not talk about the unsold domestic playerswhich is sad. Because since I have played a lot of domestic cricket,I know how hard domestic players’ toil. We have the talent to addat least 2 teams of unsold domestic players,” she said.
Regardingfranchise-based cricket, Shikha said, “Culture of league crickethas not gone really into women's cricket as compared to men'scricket. In men's cricket, lot of players are not accepting nationalcontract in order to play only in franchise-based cricket. It’s notthe same in women's cricket. Now, you see so many players goingaround the world playing franchise cricket. I guess players who arenot favoured by the national selectors decide to go. The more leaguesyou play, the more eye-balls you attract and you can work your case.I am lucky to played so many franchise tournaments.”
Shikha saidshe shares a good bond with her team-mate Jemimah Rodrigues.
“Jemi isa nice team-mate. I share a good friendship with Jemi. I am reallyhappy for her as to how she performed during the World Cup. I am alsoreally happy that India won the World Cup,” Shikha said.
Shikhaalso fondly recollected the origin of her nickname ‘Shikipedia'.
“Thename 'Shikipedia' was given by Jemi. Because she thought I kneweverything about cricket. Not just that but other general knowledgestuff as well. So, she along with other gang - Smriti and othermembers they also started calling me Shikipedia.”
Shefurther added, “I love watching cricket. I probably got it from myfather. He is a huge cricket fanatic. I am a huge cricket buff thatway and I watch any kind of cricket that happens.”
