WPL: Indian domestic players primed to leave their mark in tournament’s third season
New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS) Since its establishment in 2023, the Women’s Premier League (WPL) has offered players a golden chance to showcase their talent and act as a springboard to fulfill their ambitions of playing for the Indian team through matches in Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi.
WPL: Indian domestic players primed to leave their mark in tournament’s third season
New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS) Since its establishment in 2023, the Women’s Premier League (WPL) has offered players a golden chance to showcase their talent and act as a springboard to fulfill their ambitions of playing for the Indian team through matches in Mumbai, Bengaluru and New Delhi.
Now this time, for its third season, apart from Mumbai and Bengaluru, the WPL will extend its wings to two new cities – Vadodara and Lucknow – with Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz set to experience home comforts for the first time.
Though the buzz around WPL season 3 starting on Friday has been mixed on social media platforms, with the five franchises taking the lead in this, there’s been some solid local coverage in Vadodara. But will that translate into houseful scenarios at the BCA Stadium, situated away from the main city, it remains to be seen.
For now, the main expectation of everyone in the cricketing ecosystem from WPL season three has been for Indian domestic players to emerge as vital cogs in their respective teams’ campaigns. In season one, overseas players held the spots for top three run-getters and wicket-takers.
In season two, capped Indian players like Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana, and Shafali Verma entered the top three rankings in bowlers and batters’ lists, respectively.
“For batters, I would say they’ll have to get out of this Indian mindset of where they are focused on saving their wicket. I think you will see a bunch of batters doing that in WPL 2025. In fact, they’ve already started to come in the form of Vrinda Dinesh, Poonam Khemnar or Kiran Navgire.
“All of them have been able to kind of starting to express themselves way better and are willing to go that extra mile in terms of working on the power hitting aspect, which looks like it’s bearing some fruits as well. Also from the Indian batter’s perspective, they will focus now on strike-rate,” said Aarti Sankaran, a BCCI-certified Level 3 coach, to IANS from Chennai.
She also feels the domestic pacers, who carry the x-factor and the uniqueness tag, will be able to majorly call the shots in WPL 2025. “You will see bowlers who are now going to be able to bowl various kinds of deliveries, like trying a slower bouncer. I was watching Kranti Goud the other day in the senior women’s one-day challenger trophy, and the one thing that I noticed about her was her speeds were very good.
“But she’s doing pretty much the same thing day in and day out, without going for something else that could be tried at the right time. Maybe this will be the WPL, where these fast bowlers will show they are definitely quicker than the rest, which is why they’ve been picked by these teams, despite not getting a national call.
“You are also seeing players being picked because they are bringing in some kind of uniqueness. Now, this uniqueness will be further fine-tuned to use a certain delivery. It could be just one variation that comes in, but you will see that it’s being used at the right time going forward.
“This WPL could be the season for these uncapped players, bowlers especially, who have the x-factor of speed in them, like Joshitha, Kranti or Kashvee Gautam, who will amp up their game by bringing in a knowledgeable variation at the right time,” she elaborated.
Perhaps the greatest impact of WPL has been in showing Indian domestic cricketers the path to hitting the next level, and more importantly, moving in the right direction towards it. The year-round upskilling opportunities available to cricketers, especially during the off-season, have also played a significant role, as franchises periodically hold camps to monitor their progress throughout the year.
But another big impact of the WPL on the Indian domestic circuit has been the importance of fielding, something which has been a constant work in progress factor for the senior team. Citing the example of Saika Ishaque, the Indian left-arm spinner from Mumbai Indians, Aarti, who also serves as a faculty at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru, feels WPL 2025 will see Indian players present themselves as supremely fit fielders.
“You are going to see fielders not just going to be happy with a near stop anymore. For example, someone like Saika Ishaque is otherwise considered an ordinary fielder in the Mumbai Indians setup and has been realising that her bowling alone will not suffice. In the first season the way her wickets came and in the second season the way the wickets came, have differed.”
“She did not pick them up plenty because people had figured her out. Now if she has to retain her place in the team, her bowling also needs to start getting a little more smart. She’ll have to find ways of picking up bowling at lengths and lines that are otherwise alien to her, which I think she started even in her Bengal team. The other thing is, she will bring in definitely the fielding aspect.
“You will see that the Indian bowlers will start contributing in, as not just a bowler who is just contributing in one role, it will be as fielders as well, because they’re all realizing how it’s going to impact their future going forward. I feel you will see people understanding their role as fielders better in this WPL.
“You will see people making an effort to go to the uncomfortable zone a bit more and witness young Indian players being very, very competitive in ensuring that they are constantly challenging their limits every time they’re on the field. This is something WPL has started bringing out in these players, and I think the more and more we go in this season, it will get more and more evident,” she signed off.
–IANS
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