Who is Simran Shaikh? Virat Kohli’s fan who became most expensive buy at WPL 2025 Auction

Mumbai batter Simran Shaikh, daughter of an electrician from Dharavi, Asia's largest slum, made a name for herself by securing a massive Rs 1.9 crore contract with the Gujarat Giants in the mini-auction ahead of the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025.

Having previously played for UP Warriorz in WPL 2023, Simran became the most expensive uncapped Indian player in the WPL auction. She is also part of the Mumbai and India E teams that won the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy and the Challenger Trophy, respectively.

Simran is the third of seven children, four sisters and three brothers, and lives with her family of eleven people in a 10x16 room in Asia's biggest slum in Mumbai.

Simran, a 22-year-old middle-order batter, was purchased by UP Warriorz for her base price of Rs 10 lakh in the inaugural WPL auction last year. In nine matches during WPL 2023, she scored 29 runs, with a strike rate of 60.41 and an average of 5.80.

Moreover, uncapped batter Simran Shaikh expressed her desire to meet India stalwart Virat Kohli and outlined her goal to represent the Indian national team.

The young batter revealed that Virat is her favourite player and her goal is to represent India, for which she is making all the efforts.

"My dream is to meet Virat Kohli once. I just want a jersey - of India and that is why I am making all these efforts," Simran told ANI.

Delhi Capitals and the Gujarat-based franchise came into the bidding war for the uncapped batter. Her base price was Rs 5 lakh and made her way to the Giants with a whopping amount of Rs 1.9 crore.

Gujarat Giants full squad for WPL 2025: Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney, Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Laura Wolvaardt, Shabnam Shakil, Tanuja Kanwer, Phoebe Litchfield, Meghna Singh, Kashvee Gautam, Priya Mishra, Mannat Kashyap, Bharti Fulmali, Sayali Satghare, Deandra Dottin, Simran Shaikh, Danielle Gibson, and Prakashika Naik.

(With inputs from ANI)