Women’s Premier League 2023, the inaugural edition of the tournament, will begin on March 4. Krithika V writes on how the five teams stack up.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Squad

Indian: Capped – Smriti Mandhana, Preeti Bose, Richa Ghosh, Renuka Singh. Uncapped – Kanika Ahuja, Komal Zanzad, Disha Kasat, Indrani Roy, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Shobana, Poonam Khemnar, Sahana Pawar. Overseas: Sophie Devine, Heather Knight, Megan Schutt, Erin Burns, Dane van Niekerk, Ellyse Perry

Strengths

Experienced overseas core: While Mandhana will lead the franchise, the team also features international captains like Devine, Knight and van Niekerk.

All-round strength: Most overseas cricketers are seasoned all-rounders, which mean deeper batting as well as back-up bowlers. The batting depth is bolstered by Ghosh, the best Twenty20 batter among Indian wicketkeepers.

Weaknesses

More uncapped players: RCB has more uncapped cricketers (8) than any other franchise in the league. Of course, that will benefit them in the long run, but for this edition, the lack of experienced Indian cricketers may be a concern.
This might not be a weakness and could be seen as an opportunity too. Compared to other teams, RCB has the most uncapped players (8).

Spin: RCB do not have a capped Indian spinner. They do not have an Indian wrist spinner either. If the pitches are slow, they will have to bank on overseas cricketers, who have limited experience on these pitches.

Youngster to watch out for

Shreyanka Patil has been outstanding with the ball in the past couple of years. This year, she has picked up 18 wickets at an economy rate of 5.80, including two four-wicket hauls in T20s. Also, is pretty handy with the bat.

Delhi Capitals

Squad

Indian: Capped – Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia, Poonam Yadav, Sneha Deepthi, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma. Uncapped – Minnu Mani, Titas Sadhu, Jasia Akhter, Aparna Mondal. Overseas: Meg Lanning, Alice Capsey, Jess Jonassen, Laura Harris, Marizanne Kapp. Associate: Tara Norris.

Strengths

Luxury to field five overseas players: Since they picked the USA pacer Norris, DC are the only team who can field five overseas players. Norris did well for Sussex at the Vitality Women’s T20 tournament in 2022: she picked up eight wickets while going at 4.84 an over.

Solid top order: DC have a dangerous batting line-up. Since 2021, Alice Capsey has struck at 152 in the powerplay overs, while Verma strikes at 130. In the recent inter-zonal T20 trophy, Deepthi was striking at 163. There is also the in-form Jasia Akhtar, the leading run-scorer in the recent Senior ODI Trophy.

International experience: Thirteen of the 18 DC players have played international cricket, while Titas Sadhu was the Player of the Match in the final of the U19 T20 World Cup. In Lanning, they have a captain who has seldom known defeat.

Weakness

The wicketkeeper: While their glovework is efficient, neither Bhatia nor Mondal is as explosive as other top-order batters. This is probably their only major weakness.

Youngster to watch out for

One of the fastest Indian Under-19 bowlers, Titas Sadhu played key role in India winning the U19 World Cup. She also has a knack of performing in knockouts, as she demonstrated with 2-7 in CAB Women’s T20 knockouts, 2021, 2-18 in CAB Women’s One-Day final 2022, 21 and 2-11 in CAB Women’s T20 semi-final 2022, 2-9 in Bengal T20 Challenge final 2022, and 2-6 in the 2023 U19 World Cup final.

Gujarat Giants

Squad

Indian: Capped – Sneh Rana, Sushma Verma, Mansi Joshi, D Hemalatha, Monica Patel, S Meghana, Harleen Deol. Uncapped – Hurley Gala, Tanuja Kanwar, Ashwani Kumari, Parunika Sisodia, Shabnam Shakil. Overseas: Beth Mooney, Georgia Wareham, Sophia Dunkley, Annabel Sutherland, Deandra Dottin, Ash Gardner

Strength

In-form explosive batters: Mooney was the player of the World Cup T20 final, while Gardner was the Player of the Tournament. Add Dunkley and Dottin to that list, and the team’s batting is one of the best.

Weakness

Dependence on overseas players: The Indian contingent is not the most experienced. Of their seven Indian capped players, not one is a regular in the current Indian team.

Youngster to watch out for

Parunika Sisodia’s form can be a big plus for the team. The teenager was the leading wicket-taker in the Senior One-Day trophy and has picked up 35 wickets in her last 14 List A games.

Mumbai Indians

Squad

Indian: Capped – Harmanpreet Kaur, Amanjot Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, Yastika Bhatia. Uncapped – Priyanka Bala, Dhara Gujjar, Saika Ishaque, Humairaa Kaazi, Sonam Yadav, Jintimani Kalita, Neelam Bisht. Overseas: Hayley Matthews, Heather Graham, Issy Wong, Chloe Tryon, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amelia Kerr.

Strengths

Charlotte Edwards: Since 2020, Edwards has coached in eight tournaments – in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy in 2020, 2021, and 2022; The Hundred in 2021 and 2022; the Charlotte Edwards Cup in 2021 and 2022; and the Women’s Big Bash League in 2022/23. The teams had made it to the knockouts every time.

Experienced international all-rounders: Between them, Kerr, Tryon, Matthews, Graham and Sciver-Brunt have a combined 995 T20 matches.

Weakness

Inexperienced pace attack: Amanjot Kaur and Wong, their main seamers apart from Vastrakar, are comparatively new to international cricket.

Youngster to watch out for

Jintimani Kalita, the young pacer, opened bowling for India C at the U19 T20 Challengers. She bowled 56 dot balls – the most in the tournament – out of 84. An improved batter, she has worked well on her batting. She scored a century (104 off 80) while chasing in the recent Assam U19 Selection match.

UP Warriorz

Squad

Indian: Capped – Deepti Sharma, Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Kiran Navgire, Devika Vaidya. Uncapped – Shweta Sehrawat, Parshavi Chopra, S Yashasri, Laxmi Yadav, Simran Shaikh. Overseas: Alyssa Healy, Grace Harris, Sophie Ecclestone, Tahlia McGrath, Shabnim Ismail.

Strengths

The best of everything: Ecclestone is the top-ranked ODI and T20I bowler in the world. McGrath is the top-ranked T20I batter. Ismail is the fastest bowler in the world. Yashasri is the fastest U19 bowler. Sharma is the leading T20 wicket-taker among Indians.

Weakness

Smallest squad: UP Warriorz have the smallest squad (16 players) amongst all teams this season. A couple of injuries, or a couple of big names losing form, may pose a problem.

Lack of experience in middle order: While the bowling looks strong, their batting lacks experience. They will depend more on Sharma for runs in the middle order.

Youngster to watch out for:

Simran Shaikh can go for big shots right from ball one. Excellent against spinners and very strong on the leg side, the Mumbai youngster can make heads turn this season.