The second edition of the Women’s Premier League, starting on February 23 with a high-profile match between defending champions Mumbai Indians and runners-up Delhi Capitals, will probably be optimistic about assembly its existential objective of giving a wider platform to promising home-grown skills.
The international stars glittered brightly within the inaugural edition held in Mumbai, and the Indians will probably be hoping to hog a number of the limelight this yr as the match takes a multi-city format form with New Delhi being the opposite host metropolis.
While Capitals’ skipper Meg Lanning, who has now retired from worldwide cricket, took the Orange Cap final yr for the very best run-getter, the Purple Cap went to Hayley Matthews of Mumbai for taking 16 wickets.
Amid this surge of abroad gamers, the Indian cricketers typically struggled for consistency and impression within the earlier yr, however now a number of the young home stars will eye this WPL with real hope.
Let’s take Shreyanka Patil of Royal Challengers Bangalore as a working example. During WPL 2023, she was a wide-eyed young cricketer who was awestruck to rub shoulders with a number of the most interesting names in ladies’s cricket.
She performed seven matches, however the highlight was understandably on gamers such as Smriti Mandhana or Ellyse Perry or Sophie Devine.
But within the final 10 months or so, Patil has constructed a spot of her personal. She earned her maiden India cap in each Test and ODIs in December final yr, moreover making her mark within the Caribbean Premier League for the Guyana Amazon Warriors.
In this interim, the 21-year-old has additionally added extra arrows to her quiver within the type of power-hitting on the loss of life overs.
Titas Sadhu of Delhi Capitals provides the same story. Sadhu didn’t get a single recreation regardless of being within the squad however this yr the West Bengal participant has a modified profile.
After making her India debut within the Hangzhou Asian Games in opposition to Bangladesh, the 19-year-old has grown in stature.
The medium pacer’s 4-1-6-3 spell helped India beat Sri Lanka within the Asian Games last whereas defending a meagre goal of 117.
Sadhu proved that that efficiency was no flash within the pan when she grabbed 4 for 17 in opposition to Australia in Mumbai final month, powering India to a uncommon T20I win over the Aussies.
So, will probably be arduous for Delhi administration to miss her declare to be within the beginning eleven in opposition to Mumbai, or at the least in just a few subsequent matches.
The Capitals even have of their ranks a expertise who is keen to stamp her mark within the WPL – Minnu Mani.
The Kerala cricketer is the primary participant from her state to signal a WPL contract, however her participation final yr was restricted to simply three matches and two innings to bat.
But since then, Minnu has appeared in 4 WT20Is for India and has proven promise with her artful off-break bowling.
While it’s sure that her model of bowling will probably be put to check on the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Minnu has an enormous likelihood to courageous the chances and make a mighty impression which solely provides extra torque to her ahead journey.
But then the match is not only about contenders, it is usually concerning the trailblazers.
The outings of Harmanpreet Kaur, who must tame expectations which are typically positioned on the title holders, Mandhana, who has the onerous job of touchdown RCB a maiden title throughout WPL and IPL, and the UP Warriorz duo of Alyssa Healy and Chamari Athapaththu, two of the perfect ladies batters in up to date recreation, will probably be intently watched.
Then there are the second line of gamers like Jemimah Rodrigues (Delhi) and Deepti Sharma (UP) who come with the Hundred and Big Bash expertise behind them.
But they may not set the sector ablaze in WPL 1 and they might need to write a contemporary storyline this time.
So, there are reputations to be protected and new ones to be made and that might simply gas ladies’s cricket’s personal Le Mans for the subsequent fortnight.
Match on February 23
Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals
Teams
Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Chloe Tryon, Hayley Matthews, Humaira Kazi, Issy Wong, Jintimani Kalita, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Pooja Vastrakar, Priyanka Bala, Saika Ishaque, Yastika Bhatia, Shabnim Ismail, S Sajana, Amandeep Kaur, Fatima Jaffer, Keerthana Balakrishnan.
Delhi Capitals: Meg Lanning (Captain), Jemimah Rodrigues, Laura Harris, Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Annabel Sutherland, Arundathi Reddy, Ashwani Kumari, Jess Jonassen, Marizanne Kapp, Sneha Deepthi, Minnu Mani, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Aparna Mondal, Taniyaa Bhatia, Poonam Yadav, Titas Sadhu.
