Women’s Premier League 2023: A Look At The Top Teams and Players Competing In The Tournament

The men’s IPL has enjoyed a successful run of over 15 years, and this signalled a new beginning for Indian cricket. In 2022, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the inception of a Women’s Premier League. The WPL initially started in March 2023, involving five super-strong women’s teams. The BCCI got roughly Rs 4670 from the auction across five franchises. The five teams are Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Giants, UP Warriorz, and Mumbai Indians.

Here are Complete Details About The WPL Five Teams

Mumbai Indians

The Mumbai Indians is one of the WPL teams to participate in the first-ever women’s IPL schedules. The Mumbai-based cricket team was acquired by Indiawin Sports at the cost of Rs. 913 crores, the second most expensive acquisition in the league. This is the same company that owns the men’s team and is headed by Coach Charlotte Edwards. Jhulan Goswami also assists as a bowling coach and mentor, and Devika Palshikar assuming the role of batting coach.

Squad Details

Captain: Harmanpreet Kaur (All-rounder)

All-Rounders: Heather Graham, Pooja Vastrakar, Jintimani Kalita, Amanjot Kaur, Chloe Tryon, Amelia Kerr, Humaira Kazi, Hayley Matthews, Nat Siver-Brunt.

Wicket Keepers: Priyanka Bala, Yastika Bhatia

Bowlers: Issy Wong, Neelam Bisht, Saika Ishaque, Sonam Yadav

Batters: Dhara Gujjar

Delhi Capitals

The Delhi Capitals is an Indian women’s cricket team competing in the new Women’s Premier League. (WPL). The team is based in New Delhi under GMR Group and JSW Group, which owns the Delhi Capitals men’s team. The head coach of the team is Jonathan Batty, and the squad was formed at the first-ever WPL player auction in February 2023. The JSW-GMR cricket group paid Rs. 810 crores for the Delhi franchise, signing 18 women IPL players in the initial squad.

Squad Details

Captain: Meg Lanning (Batter)

Vice-Captain: Jemimah Rodrigues (Batter)

All-rounders: Alice Capsey, Jess Jonasses, Marizanne Kapp, Minnu Mani

Wicket Keepers: Taniya Bhatia

Bowlers: Tera Norris, Shikha Pandey, Arundhati Reddy, Titas Sadhu, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav

Batters: Jasia Akhtar, Sneha Deepthi, Laura Harris, Aparna Mondal, Shafali Verma

UP Warriorz

The UP Warriors is a new women’s cricket team competing in the Women’s Premier League (WP) with four other WPL teams. The team is based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh and was acquired by Capri Global at the cost of Rs. 757 crores. The team was put together at the inaugural WPL player auction in February and has Jon Lewis as the coach. He is assisted by Anju Jain, Ashley Noffke, the bowling coach and Lisa Sthalekar as the team mentor. The UP Warriorz signed 16 women IPL players in their squad.

Squad Details

Captain: Alyssa Healy (Wicket-keeper)

All-rounders: Grace Harris, Tahlia McGrath, Devika Vaidya

Wicket Keepers: Shivali Shinde, Laxmi Yadav

Bowlers: Lauren Bell, Parshavi Chopra, Sophie Eccleston, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shabnim Ismail, Anjali

Sarvani, Soppadhandi Yashasri

Vice-Captain: Deepti Sharma (All-rounder)

Batters: Kirian Navgire, Shweta Sehrawat, Simran Shaikh

Gujarat Giants

The Gujarat Giants team is among the five WPL teams participating in the first women’s cricket leagues in India. The team is based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat and is owned by Adani Group, the same company behind the Gujarat Giants Kabaddi team. Adani Group splurged Rs. 1289 crores for the franchise, ranking this as the most expensive acquisition in the Women’s Premier League. The 18-player team was selected in the WPL auction of February 2023, with Rachael Haynes as the captain. She is assisted by Tushar Arothe as the batting coach, Nooshin Al Khadeer as the bowling coach, Gavan Twining as the fielding coach and Mithali Raj as the mentor.

Squad Details

Captain: Sneh Rana (All-rounder)

Vice-Captain: Ashleigh Garner (All-rounder)

All-rounders: Hurley Gala, Deandra Dotting, Kim Garth, Ashwani Kumari, Dayalan Hemalatha, Sneh Rana, Annabel Sutherland

Wicket Keepers: Beth Mooney, Sushma Verma

Bowlers: Mansi Josh, Tanuja Kanwar, Monica Patel, Shabnam Shakil, Parunika Sisodia, Georgia Wareham

Batters: Harleen Deol, Sophia Dunkley, Sabbhineni Meghana, Laura Wolvaardt

Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Royal Challengers Bangalore is the final team to land a spot in the Women’s Premier League (WPL). This women’s cricket team is based in Bengaluru and owned by Diageo under Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd, which owns the RCB men’s team. The acquisition cost for the Bengaluru franchise was Rs. 901 crores, with the team signing 18 women IPL players for the starting team. During the inaugural WPL player auction in February 2023, Ben Sawyer was selected as the head coach. He is assisted by Malolan Rangarajan, RX Murali, the batting coach, Vellaswamy Vanitha, the fielding coach and Sania Mirza as the Mentor.

Squad Details

Captain: Smriti Mandhana (Batter)

Vice-Captain: Ashleigh Garner (All-rounder)

All-rounders: Kanika Ahuja, Sobhana Asha, Erin Burns, Sophie Devine, Poonam Khemmar, Heather Knight, Ellyse Perry, Dane Van Niekerk

Wicket Keepers: Richa Ghosh, Indrani Roy

Bowlers: Preeti Bose, Shreyanka Patil, Sahana Pawar, Megan Schutt, Renuka Singh, Komal Zanzad

Batters: Disha Kasat

Also Read: How to Make Best Fantasy Cricket Team

Players To Watch Out For

Smriti Mandhana

Smriti Mandhana was the most expensive player in the auction, and RCB paid a whopping Rs. 3.4 crore for her. She has a strike rate of 123.87 in T20Is, with a total of 151 runs in four innings. Do not forget to include her in your fantasy cricket team.

Beth Mooney

Beth Mooney is the second-most-expensive player in the WPL auction at Rs. 2 crore. She has played 11 T20I matches, scoring 341 runs with a strike rate of 139.18.

Harmanpreet Kaur

Harmanpreet of Mumbai Indians is the third-most expensive player in WPL, with an acquisition cost of Rs. 1.8 crore. She has scored two 50s in eight T20I innings, averaging 37.83 runs. She has also led the national team as a skipper to reach T20 knockouts in her first three world cups.

Indian cricket is off to a new start with the first-ever women’s premier league. Although there are only five teams in the competition currently, it is expected that the number will progressively rise to around 22. Various companies have come forth to place their bids, and the story of women’s cricket in India is surely bound to get more exciting.

Also Read: Everything you Need to Know About Women’s Premier League 2023