It was a bittersweet inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) for UP Warriorz and Delhi Capitals last year. While the former lived up to their billing and advanced from the league stage, the latter qualified directly to the final.
Though neither team managed to win the title, the undeniable promise they showed puts them among the favourites again heading into season two.
On paper, UPW continue to have perhaps the strongest squad in the five-team competition. With skipper Alyssa Healy, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris, Sophie Ecclestone, Tahlia McGrath, Danni Wyatt and Chamari Athapaththu in the side, they are loaded with match-winners. It’s the crop of Indian players, however, that didn’t do enough last season and could prove to be a concern again.
Healy will head into the tournament with confidence as a leader. The 33-year-old keeper-batter took over from Meg Lanning as Australia’s full-time captain and had successful outings against India and South Africa recently. With Jon Lewis as the headcoach (he is also the head coach of the England women’s team), Warriorz will hope to utilise their resources better this time around.
They may have struggled at times to find the right balance last year, but when it comes to firepower UPW are second to none. Healy needs no introduction as an opener, Deepti is one of the premier all-rounders in world cricket, Ecclestone is the finest spinner, the Australian duo of McGrath and Harris can be devastating in the middle order and Wyatt and Athapaththu are proven performers with immense experience.
While Shweta Sehrawat and Vrinda Dinesh, who was roped in for ₹1.3 crore, are promising options with the bat, there is plenty of variety in spin bowling with Ecclestone and Deepti leading the way.