The much-awaited second edition of the Women’s Premier League 2024 is all set to commence on February 23 (Friday). Mumbai Indians, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, had won the inaugural edition of the competition beating Meg Lanning-led Delhi Capitals in the final. A total of five teams – Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, UP Warriorz and Gujarat Giants – will battle it out over the course of 22 matches to win the coveted trophy this year as well.
As far as the schedule is concerned, the finalists of the previous edition, MI and DC will lock horns in the season opener. Unlike last year, when all the matches were played at two Mumbai venues, Bengaluru and Delhi are set to host 11 matches each.
The first 11 games of the season will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and later for the remaining matches including the final, the caravan will move to Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
A mini auction took place on December 9 last year for the upcoming edition, and yet again, franchises splashed a lot of money on the players they wanted to get hold of. Fantasy cricket tips for all these matches will be interesting during the season.
Let us now have a look at each of the teams and their combination:
1. Mumbai Indians
The defending champions continue to look strong and are the strong contenders for the second season as well. Kaur led the side beautifully last year and she will be looking forward to lifting trophy for the second consecutive time. In the auction, MI bought only one overseas player in Shabnim Ismail while rest of their four players were all Indians with Amandeep Kaur being one of them for INR 10 lakh.
2. Royal Challengers Bangalore
Royal Challengers endured a forgettable season last time around but the franchise has kept faith in Smriti Mandhana to lead this time around as well. They are known to have star players in their squad, and apart from their skipper, the team has players like Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine, Richa Ghosh and Renuka Singh. They managed to add some top players – Sophie Molineux, Kate Cross, Sabbineni Meghana among others in their squad in a bid to lift the trophy for the first time.
3. Delhi Capitals
Delhi Capitals have a talismanic skipper in Meg Lanning who won World Cup trophies for fun during her illustrious international career. The team splashed a massive INR 2 crore of Aussie all-rounder Annabel Sutherland at the auction and picked up only two more players. DC boast of some amazing Indian talent, with Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Radha Yadav among others in the squad. They will be eyeing to go on step better this time around and win the title.
4. Gujarat Giants
Gujarat Giants are led by Beth Mooney who is in just amazing form with the bat at the moment. They got hold of extremely talented young batter Pheobe Litchfield at the auction and have players like Ashleigh Gardner, Laura Wolvaardt, Harleen Deol and Sneh Rana in their line-up. The Giants didn’t perform to the expectations last time around but in this season, they will be hoping to at least make it to the playoffs.
5. UP Warriorz
UP Warriorz was the other team to qualify for the playoffs in the inaugural edition. The team led by current Australia captain Alyssa Healy secured Danielle Wyatt’s services at the auction. The side also boasts of world number one spinner Sophie Eccelstone and arguably best Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma in their squad. The Warriorz are brimming with Indian talent and it remains to be seen if they will be able to make it to the final of this WPL edition.
Who will win WPL 2024?
All the teams are currently looking balanced as all of them had a wonderful auction last month. Making predictions before the tournament begins is a challenging task and thus, any insightful forecast for today’s cricket match is going to be crucial for the cricket fans.
If the top three teams are to be picked, Mumbai Indians, the defending champions led by ever-aggressive Kaur, look certain to make it to the top two at least. Despite having a star-studded line-up, RCB failed to make the cut last time around. But the team looks set to shatter the records this time around and also make it to the knockouts.
Although MI and RCB are more likely candidates for the final in the Women’s Premier League 2024, Delhi Capitals, last year’s finalists, also have a great chance to make it to the finals. Nonetheless, Mumbai Indians, the defending champions, seem poised to lift the trophy for the second time in consecutive seasons because of the robust squad and an ability to clinch victories in challenging situations.
