NAGPUR: Vidarbha’s Disha Kasat and Komal Zanzad were picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) team in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction on Monday. While Komal found more than one bidder, before RCB bought her for 25 lakh, Disha was bought at her base price of 10 lakh.
Both Disha and Komal were rewarded for their consistency over the last four years, which made them front runners for a place in the teams. Disha has consistently been among the top run-getters in BCCI tournaments, while left-arm pacer Komal has been economical and impressive with the new ball.
There were five players from Vidarbha shortlisted for auction and the other three — Bharti Fulmali, Kanchan Nagwani and Janhvi Ranganathan — remained unsold. Another city player Mona Meshram, who now plays for the Railways, also went unsold in the auction.
All format Vidarbha skipper Disha and pacer Komal are among the very few women players from Vidarbha who are playing Challenger Trophy (both one-day and T20s) for the last four years. Disha and Komal were in India-A and India-C teams respectively in the T20 Challenger Trophy in November.
In the senior women T20 trophy, Disha was the highest run-getter in the country with 300 runs, while Komal was the highest wicket-taker for Vidarbha with 10 wickets.
Both Disha and Komal were the reason Vidarbha played the T20 semifinal. This season pacer Komal (4-0-4-4) recorded the best figures for Vidarbha in T20s. Komal has been ripping apart oppositions with superb control over swing.
In 2019, her swing and control in the Challenger Trophy and her 3-wicket burst for Board President’s XI against England had pitchforked her into national contention. The upcoming Challenger Trophy is another opportunity for Komal to impress national selectors.
Vidarbha skipper Disha was rewarded for her batting performance with a place in the Central Zone team for the senior women inter-zonal T20.
The right-handed Disha is among the top run getters in the country in domestic tournaments. “She is not leaving any opportunity to score runs. She is making sure that her performances speak for itself,” said a former Vidarbha player.
