Bangalore:
The second edition of the Women's Premier League, which kicks off in Bengaluru on Friday with a high-profile match between defending champions Mumbai Indians and runners-up Delhi Capitals, will be optimistic about achieving the existential goal of providing a wider platform to promising homegrown women . talents. The foreign stars shone brightly at the inaugural edition held in Mumbai, and the Indians will be hoping to grab a share of the spotlight this year as the tournament takes a multi-city format, with New Delhi being the other host city.
While Capital skipper Meg Lanning, who has now retired from international cricket, picked up the Orange Cap for highest run-getter last year, the Purple Cap went to Mumbai's Hayley Matthews for taking 16 wickets.
Amid this wave of foreign players, Indian cricketers have generally struggled for consistency and impact over the past year, but now some young domestic stars will be watching this WPL with genuine hope.
Let's take Shreyanka Patil from Royal Challengers Bangalore as an example. At WPL 2023, she was a wide-eyed young cricketer who was awestruck by some of the best names in women's cricket.
She played seven matches, but the spotlight was understandably on players like Smriti Mandhana or Ellyse Perry or Sophie Devine.
But in the past ten months, Patil has built his own house. She earned her first India cap in both Test and ODIs in December last year, in addition to making her mark in the Caribbean Premier League for the Guyana Amazon Warriors.
In this interim, the 21-year-old has also added more arrows to her quiver in the form of power-hitting in the death overs.
Delhi Capitals' Titas Sadhu offers a similar story. Sadhu didn't get a single match despite being in the squad, but this year the West Bengal player has a changed profile.
After making her India debut against Bangladesh during the Asian Games in Hangzhou, the 19-year-old has grown in stature.
The medium pacer's 4-1-6-3 spell helped India beat Sri Lanka in the Asian Games final while defending a paltry target of 117.
Sadhu proved that performance was no flash in the pan when she took four for 17 against Australia in Mumbai last month to give India a rare T20I victory over the Aussies.
So, it will be difficult for the Delhi management to overlook her claim to be in the starting XI against Mumbai, or at least in a few subsequent matches.
The Capitals also have a talent in their ranks who is eager to make her mark on the WPL: Minnu Mani.
The Kerala cricketer is the first player from her state to sign a WPL contract, but her participation last year was limited to just three matches and two innings of batting.
But since then, Minnu has appeared in four WT20Is for India and has shown promise with her smart bowling outside the break.
While it is certain that her bowling style will be tested at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Minnu has a great chance to defy the odds and make a mighty impression, which only adds more strength to her forward journey.
But the tournament is not just about contenders, but also about pioneers.
The performances of Harmanpreet Kaur, who will have to tame the expectations generally placed on the title holders, Mandhana, who has the tough task of delivering RCB a maiden title in WPL and IPL, and Alyssa Healy's UP Warriorz duo and Chamari Athapaththu , two of the best female hitters in the contemporary game, will be closely watched.
Then there is the second row of players like Jemimah Rodrigues (Delhi) and Deepti Sharma (UP) who have the Hundred and Big Bash experience behind them.
But they couldn't set the field on fire in WPL 1 and would like to write a new storyline this time.
So there are reputations to be protected and new ones to be made, and that could well fuel women's cricket's Le Mans over the next fortnight.
Friday match: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals Teams (of): Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Chloe Tryon, Hayley Matthews, Humaira Kazi, Issy Wong, Jintimani Kalita, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Pooja Vastrakar, Priyanka Bala, Saika Ishaque, Yastika Bhatia, Shabnim Ismail, S Sajana, Amandeep Kaur, Fatima Jaffer, Keerthana Balakrishnan.
Delhi Capitals: Meg Lanning (Captain), Jemimah Rodrigues, Laura Harris, Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Annabel Sutherland, Arundathi Reddy, Ashwani Kumari, Jess Jonassen, Marizanne Kapp, Sneha Deepthi, Minnu Mani, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Aparna Mondal, Taniyaa Bhatia, Poonam Yadav, Titas Sadhu.
The match will start at 7:30 PM IST.
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