UP Warriorz Coach Nayar Thrilled for WPL Challenge Ahead

At Thursday’s major auction leading up to the fourth edition of the Women’s Premier League, UP Warriorz emerged as the top spender with a purse of ₹14.5 crore.

Before the auction, they had retained only the uncapped Shweta Sehrawat for ₹50 lakh. They successfully acquired the day’s most expensive player, Deepti Sharma, by using the Right to Match (RTM) option to secure the Indian all-rounder for ₹3.2 crore, fresh off her victory in the ODI World Cup.

Other significant acquisitions by the franchise included Shikha Pandey for ₹2.4 crore, Meg Lanning for ₹1.9 crore, and Phoebe Litchfield for ₹1.2 crore.

Leading the operations at the auction table was Abhishek Nayar, who previously served as an assistant coach for the Indian men’s team under Gautam Gambhir from July 2024 to March 2025. Nayar, appointed as the head coach of UP Warriorz in July, also oversees Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.

“I think you always feel good after any auction because you get 80 per cent of the players you want. I am very happy in that regard,” Nayar shared with Sportstar. “But I also believe that you don’t win due to an auction, you have to play well on the ground.”

The former all-rounder embraces the challenge of coaching a WPL franchise for the first time. “I am quite excited about challenging myself as a coach. I have always believed in getting out of one’s comfort zone. When I work with players, I try to do that with them. And I think this is one step in that direction,” he stated.

Regarding the decision not to retain Deepti earlier and instead reacquire her at the auction, Nayar explained, “We just wanted to have the purse. Our first retention (capped) would have been ₹3.5 crore. We got her at ₹3.2 crore. It’s still some money saved, and allows you to get one extra player. The mindset was we were going to get her.”

Published on Nov 28, 2025.