Rosa Simkin (@rosatalksball)
The second edition of India’s Women’s Premier League kick starts tomorrow, Friday the 23rd of February with a replay of last years final as reigning champions, the Mumbai Indians take on runners-up the Delhi Capitals. There’s a lot to know about, from who’s involved and where to watch! This preview contains it all; the full squads, fixture list, broadcasting details and last year’s stats as well as much more, so it’s safe to say there is something for everyone.
Order of content: When and where it is, broadcasting locations, squads, top five in the auction, the captains, last seasons statistics & table, my predictions, fixtures.
Mumbai Indians’ players celebrate after winning the 2023 (WPL) Women’s Premier League.
Image Credit – REUTERS/Niharika Kulkarni
When and Where is it?
The tournament is made up of five teams and consists of a 20 game group stage, which will run from Friday the 23rd of February to Wednesday March 13th and will be followed by an eliminator between the second and third ranked teams on the 15th of March with the final being played between the team placed 1st following the group stage and the winner of the eliminator, on March 17th. Every team will face each other TWICE in the group stage of the competition.
It is also important to not that unlike The Hundred the WPL is a standalone tournament, therefore all games will be contested on a standalone basis with no double headers.
Last season, the whole tournament was contested in Mumbai but this year it has a new home, with Delhi and Bangalore hosting this time round, with the first 11 matches being played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, before moving to Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium for the remaining 9 group stage matches and the eliminator & final.
Where to Watch?
The WPL has quickly become a world leading tournament for women’s cricket, despite being in just it’s second year, and as a result there is plenty of opportunities to witness the tournament live across the globe. Viacom18 remain the official broadcast partners for the WPL, after they signed a five-year deal worth 97.5 million pounds in January 2023.
India – Every match will be available on the Sports18 network, with games also able to be streamed via the JioCinema app.
UK – Sky Sports will be showing all 22 matches of the tournament, with the majority being available on Sky Sports Mix.
Australia – Fox Sports will be streaming the action.
South Africa & Sub-Saharan Regions – Rights held by SuperSport
USA – Willow TV
The Squads:
*OS indicates an Overseas player*
Mumbai Indians – Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr (OS), Chloe Tyron (OS), Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Hayley Matthews (OS), Humairaa Kazi, Issy Wong (OS), Jintimani Kalita, Nat Sciver-Brunt (OS), Pooja Vastrakar, Priyanka Bala, Saika Ishaque, Yastika Bhatia, Shabnim Ismail (OS), Sajeevan Sajana, Amandeep Kaur, Fatima Jaffer, Keerthana Balakrishnan
Delhi Capitals – Meg Lanning (C & OS), Jemimah Rodrigues, Alice Capsey (OS), Arundati Reddy, Jess Jonnasen (OS), Laura Harris (OS), Marizanne Kapp (OS), Minnu Mani, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sneha Deepthi, Taniya Bhatiaa, Titas Sadhu, Annabel Sutherland (OS), Aparna Mondal, Ashwani Kumari
UP Warriorz – Alyssa Healy (C & OS), Anjali Sarvani, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris (OS), Kiran Navgire, Chamari Athapaththu (OS), Laxmi Yadav, Parshavi Chopra, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Yashasri, Shweta Sehrawat, Sophie Ecclestone (OS), Tahlia McGrath (OS), Danielle Wyatt (OS), Vrinda Dinesh, Saima Thakor, Poonam Khenmar, Gouher Sultana
Royal Challengers Bangalore – Smriti Mandhana (C), Asha Sobhana, Disha Kasat, Ellyse Perry (OS), Nadine de Klerk (OS), Indrani Roy, Shradda Pokharkar, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Sophie Devine (OS), Georgia Wareham (OS), Ekta Bisht, Kate Cross (OS), Shubha Sateesh, S Meghna, Simran Bahadur, Sophie Molineux (OS)
Gujarat Giants – Ash Gardner (OS), Beth Mooney (C & OS), Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Laura Wolvaardt (OS), Shabnam Shakil, Sneh Rana, Tanuja Kanwar, Phoebe Litchfield (OS), Meghna Singh, Trisha Poojitha, Sayali Sathgare, Priya Mishra, Lea Tahuhu (OS), Kathryn Bryce (OS), Mannat Kashyap, Tarannum Pathan, Veda Krishnamurthy
The Top 5 Buys:
The Auction for the 2024 edition took place on the December 9th with 40 remaining squad places being filled. This came after the closure of the retaining window closing on October 15th. Each squad could choose to have between 15 and 18 players within their spending limit. Six overseas players could be selected in a squad.
The Top 5 Purchases:
- Annabel Sutherland (Australian AR – to Delhi Capitals) – Rs 2 Crore (£190,355)
- Kashvee Gautam (Indian – RULED OUT THROUGH INJURY) – Rs 2 Crore (£190,355)
- Vrinda Dinesh (Indian – to UP Warriorz) – Rs 1.3 Crore (£123,718)
- Shabnim Ismail (South African – to Mumbai Indians) – Rs 1.2 Crore (£114,202)
- Phoebe Litchfield (Australian – to Gujarat Giants) – Rs 1 Crore (£95,211)
The Captains:
Mumbai Indians, Harmanpreet Kaur (Far right): Mumbai Indians are one of only two WPL sides who have elected for homegrown talent to lead from the front in this years WPL. The 34-year-old all rounder plays predominantly as a batter and was fundamental to her sides success and eventual victory in last years tournament, scoring 281 runs overall making her the fourth placed run scorer in the final purple cap standings. Her captaincy experience is certainly not limited, leading the Indian National Side across all formats, taking over from Mithali Raj upon her retirement.
Delhi Capitals, Meg Lanning (Middle): The Australian great heads into her second year captaining the side, after ending as runners up in their 2023 campaign. Lanning recently announced her retirement from international cricket, after leading the Aussie side for 13 years and winning seven World Cups, leading her side to five of them. She scored a whopping 8,352 runs in 241 matches across formats and batting is where her expertise lies. She was the top scorer in the 2023 edition of the tournament, scoring 345 runs across 9 innings and rightfully earning the orange cap. She will however, be hoping to take her side one step further this year and lift the title at their home in Delhi.
UP Warriorz, Alyssa Healy (Second to Left): Another Aussie to be captaining a side in this year’s tournament, after successfully captaining them to the eliminator in 2023. Healy has recently taken over captaincy of the Australian side on a permanent basis upon the retirement of previously mentioned Meg Lanning, and after a bumpy road for her Australian side (by their standards) in the last few months she’ll be hoping to send a message out to the media by lifting the WPL title on March 17th. The wicket-keeper batter is a prolific opener who was in the runs last time out, scoring 253 across the nine innings she played making her joint with Aussie teammate Ellyse Perry at 7th in the overall rankings. She will however be without her head coach Jon Lewis if the side advance out of the group stage, with the England Head coach leaving early to join up with the English side ahead of their series against New Zealand kick starting the 19th of March.
Royal Challengers Bangalore, Smriti Mandhana (Second to Right): RCB are the second and final side with an Indian star leading from the front, with Smriti Mandhana entering her second year as skipper after a somewhat disastrous 2023 campaign for RCB which saw them win just two of the eight games they played. Mandhana struggled in last years tournament, after the batter was named the most expensive pick in the tournament going for ₹3.4 crore (around £320k), scoring just 149 runs across her eight innings. The batter does however come into this years tournament off the back of an impressive run of form in an India shirt, scoring 281 in their latest series against Australia and if she can find the same form in an RCB shirt, I reckon she is definitely one to watch.
Gujarat Giants, Beth Mooney (Far Left): Giants are the only side out of the five to change their captain following the 2023 WPL season where they placed last. In a somewhat controversial decision, it was announced that Australian superstar batter Beth Mooney would be taking the captaincy from Indian talent Sneh Rana. Many have argued that Rana, despite the side placing last with 2 wins from eight, did the best possible with the resources she had access to and have called the decision harsh. Mooney has limited captaincy experience, with the 30-year-old being at the center of the Australian batting attack for a number of years. Doubling as a wicket-keeper she was ruled out of last years tournament through injury, so will be looking to hit the tournament with a bang this time round, which I reckon is likely and I wouldn’t be shocked to see her among the top run scorers. She scored 217 runs during Australia’s recent tour of India, which is definitely worth baring in mind.
2023 Stats:
Top 5 Wicket Takers:
- Hayley Matthews (Mumbai Indians) – 16 Wickets
- Sophie Ecclestone (UP Warriorz) – 16 Wickets
- Issy Wong (Mumbai Indians) – 15 Wickets
- Amelia Kerr (Mumbai Indians) – 15 Wickets
- Saika Ishaque (Mumbai Indians) – 15 Wickets
Top 5 Run Scorers:
- Meg Lanning (Delhi Capitals) – 345 Runs, 9 innings
- Nat Sciver-Brunt (Mumbai Indians) – 332 Runs, 10 innings
- Thalia McGrath (UP Warriorz) – 302 Runs, 8 Innings
- Harmanpreet Kaur (Mumbai Indians) – 281 Runs, 9 Innings
- Hayley Matthews (Mumbai Indians) – 271 Runs, 10 Innings
Boundary Meter:
6s – 159 & 4s – 801
2023 Table:
My Predictions:
Anyone who has followed Rosa Talks Ball before will know I don’t have the best of luck making predictions regarding sports events, no matter how many statistics and thought go into them. But hey, it would be rude not to wouldn’t it!
My Champions – Mumbai Indians
My Runners Up – UP Warriorz
My Top Run Scorer(s) – Beth Mooney, Smriti Mandhana, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Chamari Athapaththu & Meg Lanning
My Top Wicket Taker(s) – Saika Ishaque, Shabnim Ismail, Hayley Matthews Issy Wong & Annabel Sutherland
My Best Individual Performance – Hayley Matthews
The Fixtures:
Friday, February 23: Delhi Capitals v Mumbai Indians (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Saturday, February 24: Royal Challengers Bangalore v UP Warriorz (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Sunday, February 25: Gujarat Giants v Mumbai Indians (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Monday, February 26: Delhi Capitals v UP Warriorz (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Tuesday, February 27: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Gujarat Giants (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Wednesday, February 28: Mumbai Indians v UP Warriorz (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Thursday, February 29: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Capitals (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Friday, March 1: Gujarat Giants v UP Warriorz (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Saturday, March 2: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Indians (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Sunday, March 3: Delhi Capitals v Gujarat Giants (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Monday, March 4: Royal Challengers Bangalore v UP Warriorz (Bengaluru, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Tuesday, March 5: Delhi Capitals v Mumbai Indians (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Wednesday, March 6: Gujarat Giants v Royal Challengers Bangalore (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Thursday, March 7: Mumbai Indians v UP Warriorz (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Friday, March 8: Delhi Capitals v UP Warriorz (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Saturday, March 9: Gujarat Giants v Mumbai Indians (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Sunday, March 10: Delhi Capitals v Royal Challengers Bangalore (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Monday, March 11: Gujarat Giants v UP Warriorz (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Tuesday, March 12: Mumbai Indians v Royal Challengers Bangalore (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Wednesday, March 13: Delhi Capitals v Gujarat Giants (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Friday, March 15: Eliminator (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
Sunday, March 17: Final (Delhi, 7.30pm Local & 2.00pm UK)
