UP Warriorz purchased 16 players from the maximum limit of 18 at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction on February 13 in Mumbai. They purchased six overseas players and exhausted their purse of Rs 12 crore. The franchise has named seasoned Australian keeper-batter Alyssa Healy as their captain.
Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma was their biggest purchase at the WPL auction. The cricketer was bought for Rs 2.6 crore. She was recently named vice-captain of the franchise. Among their other important Indian purchases, UP went for all-rounder Devika Vaidya (INR 1.4 crore), left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad (Rs 40 lakh), left-arm pacer Anjali Sarvani (Rs 55 lakh). They also purchased big-hitter Kiran Navgire for Rs 30 lakh.
Among their big overseas purchases, UP went for England’s left-arm spinning match-winner Sophie Ecclestone at Rs 1.8 crore, Australian all-rounder Tahlia McGrath for Rs 1.4 crore, and veteran South African pace Shabnim Ismail for INR 1 crore. As UP gear up for WPL 2023, we take a look at their franchise’s predicted XI for the season.
Openers: Alyssa Healy (captain & wk), Shweta Sehrawat
UP will open the innings with their captain Alyssa Healy. The Aussie keeper-batter is a legend of the game and will look to inspire the team with her massive presence. The 32-year-old has the experience of 94 ODIs and 141 T20Is, in which she has scored 2639 and 2489 runs, respectively. In T20Is, Healy has a strike rate of 126.92, with one hundred and 14 fifties. One of the greatest batters in women’s cricket history, the Aussie has the ability to single-handedly win games for her team. She will need to fire on all cylinders and lead from the front if UP are to have a good WPL season.
Shweta Sehrawat can be Healy’s opening partner. The 19-year-old batting all-rounder impressed during India Women’s victorious campaign in the inaugural U19 World Cup in South Africa. In fact, she was the leading run-getter in the tournament, smashing 297 runs in seven matches at an excellent strike rate of 139.44, with three half-centuries. She can learn a lot from batting with Healy and improve her game going forward. Sehrawat can also bowl some off-spin.
Middle-order and all-rounders: Tahlia McGrath, Kiran Navgire, Devika Vaidya, Deepti Sharma
Tahlia McGrath is a hard-hitting batter who can play some destructive knocks in white-ball cricket. In 27 T20Is for Australia, she has scored 615 runs at a brilliant strike rate of 142.69, with five hundreds, including a best of 91*. She has also played 22 ODIs, scoring 357 runs with two fifties. McGrath will also be handy with her medium pace bowling. She has 17 wickets in ODIs and 13 in T20Is, averaging under 20.
Hard-hitting batter Kiran Navgire can be one of the middle-order options for UP. While playing for Nagaland in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy in 2022, Navgire created history. She slammed 162 off just 76 balls against Arunachal Pradesh, thus becoming the first Indian, male or female, to score over 150 runs in a T20 match. Navgire finished as the highest run-scorer in the tournament, scoring 525 runs, smashing 35 sixes and 54 fours. She hasn’t been able to repeat her exploits consistently since. UP will hope that changes during WPL 2023.
Devika Vaidya and Deepti Sharma will be two key all-rounders for UP in the middle-order. 25-year-old Vaidya has played nine ODIs and 13 T20Is for India, scoring 169 and 89 runs, respectively. She can chip in with handy contributions with the willow. She also bowls leg spin and has claimed 12 wickets in international cricket so far.
Sharma is a known name in international cricket with proven credentials. She has played 80 ODIs and 92 T20Is, scoring 1891 and 941 runs, respectively. Apart from a hundred in ODIs, she has 14 fifties in international cricket. Further, Sharma is a canny off-spin bowler who has won a number of games for India. The 25-year-old has over 100 wickets in T20Is at an average of 19.46 and an economy rate of 6.17. She also has 91 scalps in one-dayers.
Bowlers: Shabnim Ismail, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Anjali Sarvani, Sophie Ecclestone, S Yashasri
South African legend Shabnim Ismail will be one of the key pacers for UP in WPL 2023. The 34-year-old workhorse has 123 wickets in 113 T20Is at an average of 18.62 and an economy rate of 5.77. She also has the experience of 127 ODIs in which he has picked up 191 wickets at an average of 19.95 and an economy rate of 3.70. There have been few better pacers than Ismail in the history of women’s cricket.
Left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad went wicketless in the T20 World Cup 2023, but she remains one of the team’s key bowlers. In 55 T20Is, she has picked up 58 wickets at an average of 19.63 and an economy rate of 6.22. In 64 ODIs, she has claimed 99 scalps at an average of 20.79 and an economy rate of 3.63.
Anjali Sarvani will offer a left-arm medium-pace option to the UP franchise. She has played six T20Is so far and has claimed three wickets. She is a talented bowler and can be groomed.
England’s left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone could be the X-factor in the franchise. The top-ranked bowler in ODIs and T20Is, Ecclestone has played 55 ODI and 70 T20Is, claiming 87 and 97 wickets, respectively. She has a brilliant record, averaging 21.26 in ODIs and 15.23 in T20Is. Ecclestone had an outstanding T20 World Cup campaign, in which she claimed 11 wickets in five matches at an average of under 8.
Soppadhandi Yashasri is a young right-arm medium pacer from Hyderabad. During India’s U-19 tour of South Africa earlier this year, she was impressed, claiming four wickets in three matches at an average of 15.
