TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
Follow UsThe second season of the WPL is only six days away, and we all couldn’t be more excited. If the first season saw teams unearth talents such as Amanjot Kaur, Saika Ishaque, and Shreyanka Patil - the second season has already gotten us excited for Kashvee Gautam and Vrinda Dinesh.
But before we talk about all of that, let’s have a look at how the teams have shaped up ahead of the tournament opener on the 23rd of February.
Delhi Capitals
Position at the end of the league stage in 2023: First
Highest run-scorer: Meg Lanning
Highest wicket-taker: Marizanne Kapp
Most expensive buy at the 2024 auction: Annabel Sutherland (INR 2 Crores)
Predicted XI: Meg Lanning (C), Shafali Verma, Marizanne Kapp, Jemimah Rodrigues, Annabel Sutherland, Jess Jonassen, Taniya Bhatiya (WK), Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Minnu Mani, Titas Sadhu
They might have failed to cross the hurdle in the 2023 final, but the Capitals would be mighty proud of the show they put on throughout the tournament. The addition of Annabel Sutherland this year will only bolster their XI further.
A few things have changed off the field, though. And the biggest of them all has been their skipper Meg Lanning’s retirement from international cricket. DC fans, don’t worry. If we are to go by what we saw of her in the WNCL last month, she’ll probably be as hungry as ever to get her hands on the orange cap again.
DC’s latest recruit, Annabel Sutherland, has also improved her batting abilities. The latest of her exploits being the fantastic double ton in the Test against South Africa in Perth. Her batting value will be much more important, given how the DC middle order structures itself.
Shafali Verma is their only aggressive option and was scratchy at best in the home T20Is against Australia and England. In Jemimah Rodrigues, Jess Jonassen, and Marizanne Kapp - they have batters who aren’t really known for attacking cricket.
This is where Annabel could be a point of difference, doing what Alice Capsey did for them last year. And add her improved death-bowling skills to that; you won’t be wrong if she turns out to be a potential game-changer for her side.
Their bowling attack seems well-settled, but they would want to include Poonam Yadav, their lone wrist spinner, to give them that wrist-spin option on the field.
But who does she come in place of?
Radha Yadav has a fair bit of experience playing top-level cricket and will also be entering the WPL on the back of a superlative domestic season.
But that would mean that the Capitals would be without an off-spinner in their XI unless they’re open to bowling more of Jemi or Shafali.
Jemi seemed to be batting like a dream in ODIs last year, but she’s yet to turn a corner in T20s. And her coming good could go a long way in ensuring another playoff qualification for Delhi.
Mumbai Indians
Position at the end of the league stage in 2023: Second
Highest run-scorer: Nat Sciver-Brunt
Highest wicket-taker: Hayley Matthews
Most expensive buy at the 2024 auction: Shabnim Ismail (INR 1.2 Crores)
Predicted XI: Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia (WK), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amelia Kerr, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Pooja Vastrakar, Amanjot Kaur, Jintimani Kalita, Humairaa Kaazi, Shabnim Ismail, Saika Ishaque
Winners of the first season of the WPL, Mumbai Indians had very little to do at the auction but somehow still managed to strengthen their side with the addition of Shabnim Ismail.
Their first XI looks eerily similar to what it was last year, something common with all successful franchises. The one big change we will see could be Shabnim Ismail walking into the side in place of Issy Wong to give them that experience.
You’re talking about the same Issy Wong who ended last season as the second-highest wicket-taker with 15 wickets, one might ask?
Unfortunately, she’s had a very ordinary summer post her MI stint. A string of issues with her bowling led to her featuring in only five games in The Women’s Hundred, and the last time she donned the England jersey, she ended up bowling three no-balls and a wide in her first over. She was then dropped for the much anticipated India tour, and the WPL will be her first major tournament in a while.
And with an able replacement in the rapid Ismail, Mumbai seemed to have that covered as well, giving them the best bowling unit in the competition.
Amelia Kerr, Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Pooja Vastrakar, Saika Ishaque, Shabnim Ismail
That’s six bowlers who can bowl four overs on any given day. And the likes of Harman, Amanjot and the slew of domestic all-rounders at their disposal, one can see why oppositions might falter while facing them.
There’s no doubting the quality of their top four, but they will be slightly wary of those who come after that. Harman, off late, has not been in the greatest of nicks. Amanjot and Pooja have not produced much with the bat at the highest level, and the domestic options they have are almost entirely untested at the WPL. This soft underbelly is what other teams might want to focus on if they want to win games against this Mumbai side.
UP Warriorz
Position at the end of the league stage in 2023: Third
Highest run-scorer: Tahlia McGrath
Highest wicket-taker: Sophie Ecclestone
Most expensive buy at the 2024 auction: Vrinda Dinesh (INR 1.3 Crores)
Predicted XI: Alyssa Healy (C & WK), Vrinda Dinesh, Kiran Navgire, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Poonam Khemnar, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone, Parshavi Chopra, Saima Thakor, Anjali Sarvani
UP Warriorz were the third team to make it to the playoffs, and they would want to go a step further this time around. But have they made the necessary changes to help them in this endeavour?
Well, their first XI doesn’t seem to suggest that.
Let’s start with the bases they have covered.
Vrinda Dinesh joins Alyssa Healy, Kiran Navgire, and Tahlia McGrath to give UPW a very potent top four. One that could take the game in a few overs.
There’s also the spin troika of Deepti Sharma, Parshavi Chopra, and Sophie Ecclestone. Apart from covering all bowling types, they also can operate at different phases of the game. Deepti and Sophie can bowl at any phase.
But this is where the praises end.
At the end of the auction, the one point most experts had to make was the abundance of top-order batters in the UPW lineup.
Having six top-order options could be a bit much. And if that wasn’t enough, when Lauren Bell made herself unavailable for the season, they signed Chamari Athapaththu, yet another top-order batter, as her replacement.
This signing further depleted their fragile pace attack, which now includes only three options in Anjali Sarvani, S Yashasri, and Saima Thakor. And given that they play half of their league games at the Chinnaswamy, their fielders could be in for a leather hunt more often than not.
Also, outside their top four, there aren’t too many proven options barring Grace Harris. With them potentially playing with eight batting options, including Deepti Sharma and Sophie Ecclestone, they will be hugely dependent on the top order to get them the runs game after game.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Position at the end of the league stage in 2023: Fourth
Highest run-scorer: Sophie Devine
Highest wicket-taker: Heather Knight
Most expensive buy at the 2024 auction: Ekta Bisht (INR 60 Lakhs)
Predicted XI: Sophie Devine, Smriti Mandhana (C), S. Meghana, Ellyse Perry, Indrani Roy, Richa Ghosh (WK), Sophie Molineux, Nadine de Klerk, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, Renuka Thakur
The side most talked about in social media circles. It is, of course, the team that supposedly plays to win the content game.
What about the game of cricket, then?
On paper, RCB were a side many experts expected to do well last year. But it turned out to be a horrendous campaign for them, with none of their India caps turning up for them.
They’ve followed the same script so far. Post the auction, RCB seemed to have assembled a solid squad and a strong first XI. And when Heather Knight made herself unavailable, they brought a bowling all-rounder in Nadine de Klerk instead of going for a like-for-like replacement.
RCB's first XI boasts of enviable batting depth, with Asha Sobhana and Sophie Molineux forming their lower order with Shreyanka Patil. Both bat at the top of the order for their respective domestic sides.
Their batting more or less remains the same. Smriti’s lack of form, coupled with the lack of a stable #3, meant that their batting solely relied on their overseas pros to get the runs. They’ve tried to fix the latter by adding S Meghana and Shubha Satheesh to their squad.
Their pace attack looks unidimensional and this was the same issue that plagued them last year. Renuka Thakur was rendered toothless by the lack of movement in the air, and should that be the case this time as well, there aren’t too many other options to look at. And with them playing five of their eight league stage games at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, this could quickly turn pear-shaped.
Last year, RCB suffered from the constant chopping and changing of their composition. In fact, only two of their domestic players - Richa Ghosh and Smriti Mandhana - played all the games for them. The Bangalore-based franchise will be wary of that and will hope that a new coach in Luke Williams will yield them the right result.
Gujarat Giants
Position at the end of the league stage in 2023: Fifth
Highest run-scorer: Ashleigh Gardner
Highest wicket-taker: Kim Garth
Most expensive buy at the 2024 auction: Kashvee Gautam (INR 2 Crores)
Predicted XI: Beth Mooney (C & WK), Laura Wolvaardt, Harleen Deol, Ash Gardner, Phoebe Litchfield, D. Hemalatha, Sneh Rana, Kathryn Bryce, Sayali Satghare, Mannat Kashyap, Meghna Singh
Lastly, we have the Gujarat Giants. Losing your skipper in the first game of the tournament is a setback from which very few teams recover. The Giants had a very underwhelming beginning to WPL and will want to change that this year.
While the Phoebe Litchfield buy helps them plug that middle-order gap, Kathryn Bryce’s addition allows them the opportunity to play a fifth overseas player, their auction performance was a bit of a mixed bag.
Surprisingly, they let go of Kim Garth, their highest wicket-taker from the first season. And they bought a reinforcement in the form of Lauren Cheatle. Her unfortunate absence allowed them to bring in the experienced Lea Tahuhu as her replacement.
Their top six, on paper, look very promising. But the caveat is that they will end up exhausting all their overseas slots by then. Further, they could be one of the only teams with a solitary bowling option in their top-order. Given their lack of experience in the bowling department, their bowlers will have their task cut out for them while bowling at the Chinnaswamy.
One way of mitigating this would be to partner up Beth Mooney with Phoebe Litchfield at the top and bring in the experienced Veda Krishnamurthy in the middle order. This would allow them to field an overseas pacer in Lea Tahuhu.
The last-minute replacement of Rachel Haynes with Michael Klinger is far from ideal, but GG fans can only hope that this move yields the desired results. Like a few other teams, they will heavily rely on their batters to do the bulk of the damage for them.
Of course, they’re also mentored by Mithali Raj and Nooshin Al Khadeer, both of whom have a keen understanding of the domestic talent pool. And this would allow their domestic youngsters to prove themselves at the highest stage.
Can they do that?
Well, we will get our answers starting February 23.
