Smriti Mandhana’s languid grace will meet its match in Shafali Verma’s brute energy when Royal Challengers Bangalore tackle Delhi Capitals in a WPL match on Sunday.
RCB have ready a incredible roster by way of worldwide recruits, together with skipper Mandhana, who’s the very best paid participant of the league at Rs 3.40 crore. With Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight, Sophie Devine and the marauding Richa Ghosh of their ranks, the workforce does have a formidable look. But on paper, the a number of World Cup-winning legendary Australian Meg Lanning’s Delhi workforce can have a slight edge over their opponents by way of pure Indian expertise.
While Lanning together with Jess Jonasen, Marizanne Kapp and Alice Capsey are prone to be the 4 abroad gamers, DC’s Indian line-up is each formidable and scary on the identical time.
Shafali, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Taniya Bhatia, Radha Yadav are all seasoned India gamers. In U-19 World Cup-winning seamer Titas Sadhu, hard-hitting Kashmir lady Jasia Akhtar and keeper Aparna Mondal within the combine, Delhi Capitals have procured the very best Indian expertise on provide.
Smriti Mandhana is in the home and she or he’s all set to start our #WPL2023 marketing campaign.Â
Welcome, skipper! #PlayBold #SheIsBold #SmritiMandhana pic.twitter.com/7WWpvsrv9f
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) March 2, 2023
“I have had a few chats with the players and I’m just getting to know their strengths, what they like to do and how they think about things. Hopefully, I can learn something from the girls and give them a little bit of knowledge as well,” Lanning was quoted as saying in a DC launch.
For Lanning’s South African teammate Kapp, the match will see her battling it out with Dane Van Niekerk, who’s within the RCB workforce.
“We’ve got a wonderful group of girls and let’s see what everyone brings to the table. It’ll be challenging to go against some of my fellow South Africans in the league as they know me very well. But it’s also exciting and I am happy that there are a few players from our nation in India this year,” Kapp mentioned.
For Mandhana, it’s simple to decide on her 4 international gamers — Kapp, Knight, Perry and quick bowler Megan Schutt. But her downside will probably be to repair the slot for at the very least 4 high quality Indian gamers with three, together with the skipper herself, Richa and seamer Renuka Thakur being automated selections.
Which 4 amongst Komal Zanzad, Shobhana Asha, Indrani Roy (toured England with Indian workforce in 2021), Poonam Khemnar, Kanika Ahuja and Preeti Bose, Sahana Pawar match the invoice as per workforce mixture will decide RCB’s run within the occasion.
Here’s how Mandhana’s RCB can lineup tomorrow:
Smriti Mandhana [c], Indrani Roy, Sophie Devine, Heather Knight, Richa Ghosh [wk], Ellyse Perry, Poonam Khemnar, Kanika Ahuja, Megan Schutt, Renuka Singh, Preeti Bose
Squads:
Delhi Capitals: Meg Lanning (captain), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Jess Jonasen, Alice Capsey, Tara Norris, Laura Harris, Marizanne Kapp, Poonam Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Aparna Mondal (wk), Titas Sadhu, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Minnu Mani, Jasia Akhtar
RCB: Smriti Mandhana (captain), Richa Ghosh (wk), Dane Van Niekerk, Heather Knight, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Sophie Devine, Erin Burns, Disha Kasat, Sahana Pawar, Renuka Thakur, Komal Zanzad, Poonam Khemnar, Kanika Ahuja, Preeti Bose, Shobhana Asha, Shreyanka Patil, Indrani Roy (wk).
