WPL Auction: All you need to know about Mallika Sagar, the female auctioneer at historic auction

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The wait for the historic Women's Premier League (WPL) Auction is almost over and we are just a couple of hours from the start of the mega event at 2:30 PM IST in Mumbai. To conduct the auction the BCCI has also brought in a female auctioneer who would be the bridge between the franchises and the 409 players who at the end of the day are most likely to become millionaires.

Mallika Sagar, a specialist in modern and contemporary art and is an auctioneer at Pundole's in Mumbai, would take care of the proceedings at the Jio Convention Centre. She held the first sale of Modern Indian Art in New York in 2000.

First Indian auctioneer of a famous British auction house

Mallika has done her masters in art history from Bryn Mawr college in Philadelphia. Her career started at Christie's in 2001 when she became the first woman auctioneer of Indian Origin at the British auction house.

A Cricbuzz report referred to Mallika as a Mumbai-based art collector and consultant for Modern and Contemporary Indian art. She is also a partner in the Art India Consultants firm.

Richard Madley or Hugh Edmeades have been earlier roped in by the BCCI for IPL auctions but their thoughtful move to bring in a female auctioneer for the WPL auction has been called progressive and appreciated by the fans.

Mallika Sagar new to sports auctioning

While her specialisation is in art, she is not new to sports auctions. Pro Kabaddi League had roped Mallika as their first-ever female auctioneer in 2021. She had received huge praises for her work there.

A total of 409 players (246 Indian and 163 overseas) are set to go under the hammer. 24 players are listed at the highest base price of Rs 50 lakh. The auction will kick off from 2:30 PM IST on Sports 18 Network channels. Each of the five franchises have been allotted a purse of Rs 12 crore each.