The Women’s Premier League (WPL) has entered its third edition, marking yet another chapter in the history of cricket in India. The tournament will begin this Friday with the clash between the defending champions Royal Challallgers Bengaluru and the Gujarat Giants at Vadodara, focusing on developing India’s young cricketing talents and throwing a few international stars into the fray at the same time.
While the international stars have raised the profile of the competition, the real mark of success for the WPL has been the nurturing of domestic players. Forming an integral part of the last two seasons, young Indian cricketers such as Shreyanka Patil and Saika Ishaque made their mark, earning national call-ups and subsequently debuting for India. Thus, those stories of success have paved the way for others in the next generation, with the list of emerging Indian stars extending further every season.
This season, the general consensus seems to be that with some renowned overseas stars, namely Alyssa Healy, Sophie Molineux, and Kate Cross, being sidelined by injuries, plenty of opportunities exist for the celebrated domestic players and young talents to shine. Among them has been India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who expressed excitement about the impending season, stressing the increasingly large pool of domestic talents.
Harmanpreet’s expressed thrill as the Indian captain for this season because many domestic cricketers have worked hard to be ready in the end to show their talent, he said in an interview with PTI. “Some of the Names featured in the Catalog Picture and Track list are Players we had discussions about even before they had auctioned concerns. We expect them to stand out and thereby make the Indian Team stronger.”
Definitely the most outstanding player one would like to view is Shafali Verma, an emerging opener who has shown fine form on the domestic circuit. After a make-up for entry into the roster for the national team, Shafali would certainly like to make an impact for Delhi Capitals as she will be gearing up to vis-à-vis the Indian squad. With ambient events like the England tour in July and the ODI World Cup at home later this year, pressure mounts, yet hope is instilled by Shafali’s recent outings.
Another exciting prospect is fast-bowling all-rounder Kashvee Gautam, who has made waves in domestic cricket. This WPL season promises to present golden opportunities for the girl to show her strength against the world’s best. This ups the ante in the anticipation of watching the tournament.
That is, in fact, a concomitant introduction of two new venues this season – Vadodara and Lucknow – as the tournament comes closer to a home-and-away format, similar to that in the Indian Premier League (IPL). These two sites will bring fans across the geography of India to sit down and celebrate the WPL exuberance, which will further enhance the growth and access of the game.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are the reigning HPS champions and are going to have quite a journey ahead. This year, some major key players will not be available, for instance, Sophie Devine who is taking a break from her cricket so as to prioritize her well-being, along with some players like Molineux and Cross who have injuries. Hence, defending the crown would be made a challenge for RCB.
RCB captain Smriti Mandhana stated how these top players cannot be replaced; however, she justified by saying how mental well-being matters. “It will be tough without some of our key players, but mental well-being comes first. We respect Sophie’s decision and will support her,” Smriti said.
Consistency in the game is the name of the game for the Delhi Capitals, who have reached the finals twice in the past. Their roster is bursting at the seams with several world-class talents, Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning, Jemimah Rodrigues, Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp; and some seasoned bowlers-Shikha Pandey, Arundhati Reddy, Titas Sadhu, Jess Jonassen, and Radha Yadav.
“Our squad has definitely been strengthened, and we believe we have a chance to contend for the title once again. The first goal is to get to the final, and let’s hope we can win this time,” said captain Meg Lanning, expressing hope for them.
Last year’s title winners Mumbai Indians are again in need of an even bigger contribution from players outside the top five. Seasoned players Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur, Nat Sciver-Brunt, and Amelia Kerr did most of the heavy lifting last season. This season will have to tilt more towards ensuring their batting depth comes to the fore.
Meanwhile, Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz have changed captains. UP Warriorz has appointed Deepti Sharma as captain in place of Alyssa Healy, due to the latter’s injury. Although filling in for such a player creates much burden, Deepti is hopeful of her team’s capabilities. “I don’t feel pressured,” Deepti said. “We will miss Healy’s leadership, but we are ready to take on the challenge.”
Gujarat Giants found their captaincy change from Beth Mooney to Ashleigh Gardner. Even being the bottom-placed in both previous seasons, the Giants are surging with great expectations from the inclusion of senior players such as Deandra Dottin, promising young batter Simran Shaikh, and fast bowler Danielle Gibson in their squad, hoping for transformation.
The third season of the WPL promises exciting cricket, with fans flocking in numbers to enjoy the flamboyant performances of players while enjoying the continued nurturing of home-grown stars. Be it the players with experience behind them or those new ones trying to ramp up their career, there is much to offer as the WPL will surely continue challenging the great level of women’s cricket in India.
This is going to be a fascinating season full of memories-that-they-will-inherit great competition in this part of the world: a Women’s Premier League that cuts across local talent as well as among the best international players in cricket in the world.
