Five breakout stars at the WPL 2024

WPL 2023 catapulted Shreyanka Patil and Saika Ishaque, among others, into stardom. Both subsequently played for India. In the 2024 edition, Patil went on to win the Emerging Player Award as well as the Purple Cap, while Ishaque also had a reasonable outing.

WPL 2024, too, had its share of breakout stars – not all of whom were youngsters or unknown names.

Shabnam Shakil (Gujarat Giants)

Post-match press conferences at the WPL often feature questions on the brightest young Indian stars. The lists invariably featured Shabnam, who, at 16 years 263 days, became the youngest ever to play in the league. It is not common for a seamer to reach that level at that age, but Shabnam is no ordinary teenager. She was only fifteen and a half when she won the Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in early 2023.

It took Shabnam three matches to impress at the 2024 WPL, against the UPL Warriorz. She dismissed Alyssa Healy and Chamari Athapaththu – both international captains and superstars of the sport – in her first over. She also dismissed Shweta Sehrawat, and went on to equal the WPL record of 19 dot balls in a match.

Over the years, her pace will almost certainly increase, as will her skill set under the tutelage of some of the best minds.

S Sajana (Mumbai Indians)

One six. That was all it took for Sajana to become a household name, and you can see why. Mumbai needed five off the last ball against Delhi Capitals in the tournament opener, and Sajana – yet to face a ball in the league, let alone in the match – was on strike against Alice Capsey. She middled the stroke, and the ball soared over long on into the stands.

The stories of her triumphs off the field are well documented. At the WPL, her journey did not end with that six. There were two quick unbeaten cameos down the order, against Delhi and UP. Pushed to open batting in the Eliminator, her 30 was Mumbai’s lone resistance as her team collapsed against Ellyse Perry. Of batters with more runs, only Georgia Wareham (163) bettered Sajana’s strike rate of 158. Her off-breaks fetched two wickets as well, including Beth Mooney’s.

Asha Sobhana Joy (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Asha turned 33 the day before the final. It is not an age where one makes it to these lists, especially if this is not your first WPL season. But she is no ordinary cricketer. For instance, her 5-22 against UP this year remains the only five-wicket haul at the WPL by an Indian.

While opening up avenues for young Indian talents, the WPL has also provided opportunities for cricketers who toiled hard in domestic cricket, for whom an India cap – the only shot at limelight in the pre-WPL era – seemed elusive. Asha played for Kerala in 2006/07, when her RCB spin twin Patil was only four years old. It has taken her over a decade and a half to make a mark.

Asha was one of three bowlers to reach the 12-wicket mark at the 2024 WPL, and her economy (7.11) was the best of the three. The only reason she is not being talked about as much is that the other two – Patil and Sophie Molineux – are also RCB spinners. How much she meant to the franchise became evident was when, with 12 to defend in the last over, Smriti Mandhana backed Asha over Renuka Singh Thakur and Sophie Devine. She conceded six.

Asha may play for India. Or it might have been too late. But her success will bring hope to the domestic stalwarts of Indian cricket.

Tanuja Kanwar (Gujarat Giants)

Kanwar played all eight matches in 2023, when Gujarat had finished last. Both parts of the above statement held in 2024 as well, but her economy dropped from 8.85 to 7.13, and the average from 47.80 to 20.70. Bowling with her cap on, she claimed 10 wickets in this season – the most for Gujarat – taking her tally to 15 at the WPL, the second-most (after Ash Gardner’s 17) across two seasons for the franchise.

The competition among Indian spinners is fierce, but at 26, Kanwar can be optimistic of playing international cricket.

Titas Sadhu (Delhi Capitals)

In 2023, the year she turned 19, Sadhu conceded six runs in four overs when India won the finals of the Under-19 T20 World Cup and the Asian Games; rocked Australia with 4-17; and was widely touted as the heir to the legendary Jhulan Goswami, who hails from the same state. In the same year, she got a WPL contract but did not get a game.

It seems almost astonishing that even in 2024, she played only four times and bowled only nine overs – Delhi boast of a deep attack – but there were shades of familiar brilliance in her three wickets. When Amelia Kerr slogged her for six, she cramped Kerr for room next ball and got her. And against UP, she was in full flow, hitting the stumps twice.