The Women’s IPL will kickstart from the 4th of March till the 26th of March at DY Patil Stadium and the CCI-Brabourne Stadium at Churchgate. 5 teams will be competing with each other for the ultimate glory on the 26th of March. Let us have a look at all the squads and how they stack up:
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Royal Challengers Bangalore have lots of superstars in their lineup. They have a strong core in the form of Smriti Mandhana, Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine, and Megan Schutt. They have a powerful batting lineup. They have exciting Indian talents in Richa Ghos and Renuka Thakur. Bowling lacks a bit of experience but the reliable batting lineup would most probably mask the bowling lineup.
Domestic player to watch out for: Kanika Ahuja
While RCB does have other off-spinning all-rounders in Heather Knight (part-timer), Erin Burns and Shreyanka Patil, Punjab’s Ahuja stands out with her left-handedness that even caught the attention of MI, fetching her a 3.5x the base price tag.
Starting XI (probable):
Smriti Mandhana (C), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Dane van Niekerk/Heather Knight, Disha Kasat, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kanika Ahuja, Megan Schutt, Preeti Bose/Sahana Pawar, Renuka Thakur, Komal Zanzad
Bench: Erin Burns, Indrani Roy, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Shobana, Poonam Khemnar
Coaching staff:
Ben Sawyer (head coach), Malolan Rangarajan (assistant coach), RX Murali (batting coach), and Vanitha VR (fielding coach)
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians have an experienced captain in form of Harmanpreet Kaur who has led the national side for quite a long time. The squad is stacked up with lots of all-rounders who have got tons of experience playing in various leagues. Mumbai has also spent a significant sum on the “unknowns,” but they are all well-established competitors on the home circuit, as has been the case in the men’s tournament. The U19 World Cup champion Sonam Yadav, Amanjot Kaur, Dhara Gujjar, Saika Ishaque, and others stand to benefit much from this squad.
Domestic player to watch out for: Amanjot Kaur
This Punjab all-rounder requires no introduction after her game-changing 30-ball score of 41* on her India debut. Last month, on a two-faced field in East London, the tri-series opener, Amanjot surprised with her poise as she helped India escape a precarious 69/5 situation.
Starting XI (probable):
Yastika Bhatia (wk), Hayley Matthews, Dhara Gujjar, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Amelia Kerr, Amanjot Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, Jintimani Kalita, Issy Wong, Sonam Yadav/Saika Ishaque
Bench:Heather Graham, Chloe Tryon, Humairaa Kaazi, Priyanka Bala, Neelam Bisht
Coaching staff:
Charlotte Edwards (head coach), Jhulan Goswami (team mentor and bowling coach), Devieka Palshikaar (batting coach) and Trupti Bhattacharya (team manager)
Gujarat Giants
The Giants have a very experienced support staff in Rachael Haynes, Mithali Raj and Nooshin Al Khadeer. The squad has lots of experienced Australian players along with players from Railways. What is notable, though, is the absence of a seasoned leader or well-known Indian personalities in their core. Just Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana, and S Meghana were selected from India’s World Cup roster and reserves, although all three lack much international experience.
Domestic player to watch out for: Hurley Gala
The seam-bowling all-rounder will be eager to demonstrate why she is hailed as the next great thing to emerge out of Mumbai after being forced to miss the U19 World Cup due to injury. In the series against the young New Zealand team shortly before the World Cup, Gala stood out with seven wickets in four games and 34 runs at a strike rate of over 140.
Starting XI (probable):
Beth Mooney (C, wk), Sabbineni Meghana, Harleen Deol, Ash Gardner, D Hemalatha, Deandra Dottin, Annabel Sutherland, Sneh Rana, Hurley Gala/Ashwani Kumari, Mansi Joshi/Monica Patel, Tanuja Kanwar
Bench: Sophia Dunkley, Georgia Wareham, Sushma Verma, Parunika Sisodia, Shabnam Shakil
Coaching staff:
Rachael Haynes (head coach), Nooshin Al Khadeer (bowling coach), Tushar Arothe (batting coach), Gavan Twining (fielding coach) and Mithali Raj (team mentor and advisor)
UP Warriorz
The UP Warriorz have the smallest squad in the tournament but they have been very smart in the auctions with their buys. The playing 11 will be built around the experience of Healy, McGrath, Deepti Sharma and Sophie Ecclestone. They do not have a designated finisher in the squad and the top order needs to do the bulk of the scoring.
Domestic player to watch out for:Kiran Navgire
She entered the national conversation shortly after being the first Indian to register a T20 150 and the quickest Women’s T20 Challenge fifty on debut, but Navgire struggled to recreate that performance for India when batting out of position. This might be Navgire’s opportunity to resurface on the national selection radar, whether she bats in the middle or top order.
Starting XI (probable):
Alyssa Healy (C, wk), Shweta Sehrawat, Kiran Navgire, Tahlia McGrath, Deepti Sharma (VC), Sophie Ecclestone, Grace Harris/Shabnim Ismail, Devika Vaidya, Parshavi Chopra, Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad
Bench:Lauren Bell, S Yashasri, Simran Shaik, Laxmi Yadav
Coaching staff:
Jon Lewis (head coach), Anju Jain (assistant coach), Ashley Noffke (bowling coach) and Lisa Sthalekar (team mentor)
Delhi Capitals
The Capitals have been led by the best captain in world cricket. They have a star studded lineup with a perfect blend of Indian core and overseas superstars. They have a very reliable batting ordern in Shafali, Jemimah, Lanning. As neither of DC’s keepers or other all-rounders has the credentials of a reliable finisher, their batting may need to be balanced by the expertise of someone like Jess Jonassen deeper down the order.
Domestic player to watch out for:Jasia Akhtar
Akhtar, a powerful opener and the first J&K representative in the system, finished second in batting for winners India D in the Senior Women’s Challenger Trophy with 114 runs at a strike rate of 132.55.
Starting XI (probable):
Shafali Verma, Jasia Akhtar, Jemimah Rodrigues, Meg Lanning, Marizanne Kapp, Alice Capsey/Laura Harris, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Jess Jonassen, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav
Bench: Tara Norris, Arundhati Reddy, Sneha Deepti, Aparna Mondal, Minu Mani, Titas Sadhu
Coaching staff:
Jonathan Batty (head coach), Hemlata Kala and Lisa Keightley (assistant coaches) and Biju George (fielding coach)
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