India, Dec. 9 -- When the Gujarat Giants picked Anushka Sharma at the Women's Premier League auction, Twitter briefly erupted in jokes. But Madhya Pradesh's 22-year-old allrounder is aware that soon, her name would be remembered for her cricket.

Listed at a base price of Rs.10 lakh, she started a bidding war between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Giants, eventually being acquired by the latter for Rs.45 lakh.

"I knew I was going to get picked by some franchise, but I didn't expect the bid would go around Rs.45 lakh," Anushka told HT. "I'm very thankful and grateful to Gujarat Giants for showing this much faith in me."

On the day of the auction, she wasn't pacing around or refreshing her phone. She had just returned to the hote...