The much-awaited inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League commenced on 4th March 2023 and concluded on 26 March 2023. A total of five teams namely, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, UP Warriorz, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Gujarat Giants participated in the inaugural edition. Mumbai Indians clinched the Inaugural WPL title under the leadership of the Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur by defeating the Delhi Capitals by seven wickets.
The inaugural edition received an encouraging amount of support from the fans in terms of showing up in large numbers, as well as the digital viewership peaked at new heights right through the season for a women’s game in the country. All the matches in the Inaugural edition of the league were played across two venues the DY Patil Stadium and the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. With the remarkable success of the maiden edition of the WPL, the possibility of a home-and-away format cannot be ruled out especially if there is an increase in the number of venues in the upcoming edition of the league.
The player retention window for all five franchises came to an end on 15th October 2023. A total of 60 players, including 21 overseas players were retained and 29 players were released ahead of the second edition of the Women’s Premier League.
Mumbai Indians
The defending champions Mumbai Indians retained a total of 13 players namely, Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr (Overseas), Chloe Tryon (Overseas), Harmanpreet Kaur, Hayley Matthews (Overseas), Humairaa Kaazi, Isabelle Wong (Overseas), Jintimani Kalita, Natalie Sciver (Overseas), Pooja Vastrakar, Priyanka Bala, Saika Ishaque, and Yastika Bhatia. They released a total of four players namely Dhara Gujjar, Heather Graham (Overseas), Neelam Bisht, and Sonam Yadav.
The Mumbai Indians star-studded all-rounder including the likes of Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur, Amelia Kerr, and Nat Sciver-Brunt did the heavy lifting in terms of the runs scored at the top of the order.
The Prolific all-rounder from England Nat Sciver-Brunt was the top run-scorer for Mumbai Indians with the bat, and the second-highest of the tournament scoring 332 runs at a strike rate of 140.08 and a humongous average of 66.40. Her tally of runs included three half-centuries. Her best performance with the bat came in the semi-final on 24 March against the UP Warriorz when she scored an unbeaten 72 at an impressive strike rate of 189.47. She also picked up 10 wickets with the ball.
Whose retention and release surprised you the most?#CricketTwitter #WPL pic.twitter.com/EXP7XwOfah
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) October 19, 2023
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur led from the front, scoring 281 runs at a strike rate of 135.09 at an average of 40.14 in 9 innings. Her best performance with the bat came in the opening encounter of the tournament against the Gujarat Giants on 4th March 2023 when she scored 65 runs at an amazing strike rate of 216.66. The West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews who was a late entrant into the squad proved her worth as she put up a completely dominating all-round show.
She ended the tournament as a top wicket-taker with 16 wickets in 10 innings. She also dominated with the bat scoring 271 runs at a strike rate of 126.04 and an average of 30.11. Her best performance with the bat came against RCB on 6th March 2023, when she scored an unbeaten 77 at an impressive strike rate of 202.63. She ended the season as the third-highest run-scorer for Mumbai Indians.
The 28-year-old left-arm spinner from Bengal, Saika Ishaque was the find of the season as she impressed everyone with her ability to pick up wickets. She picked up 15 wickets in 10 innings at a strike rate of 13.93 and an average of 16.26. Her best outing with the ball came against Gujarat Giants on 4th March 2023, when she returned with the match figures of 4/11 in her quota of overs.
Delhi Capitals
The Delhi Capitals led by the Australian skipper Meg Lanning finished as the runners-up of the inaugural edition of the WPL, failing to deliver with the bat as they eventually ended up losing with a comprehensive seven-wicket margin against the Mumbai Indians. Much like Mumbai Indians, they too had an explosive star-studded top order with the likes of Meg Lanning Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Marizanne Kapp.
They have retained a total of 15 players namely Alice Capsey (overseas), Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Jess Jonassen (overseas), Laura Harris (overseas), Marizanne Kapp (overseas), Meg Lanning (overseas), Minnu Mani, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sneha Deepthi, Taniyaa Bhatia, and Titas Sadhu. They have released three players, Aparna Mondal, Jasia Akhter, and Tara Norris (overseas).
Whose retention and release surprised you the most from the DC franchise?#CricketTwitter #WPL pic.twitter.com/6D6HIyMdaK
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) October 19, 2023
Skipper Meg Lanning led from the front with the bat, scoring 345 runs at a strike rate of 139.11 and an impressive average of 49.28 in 9 innings. Her tally of runs included a couple of half-centuries. She ended the season as the orange cap holder for the most number of runs in the season just piping Nat Sciver-Brunt by 13 runs.
She formed one of the most explosive opening duos in the tournament alongside Shafali Verma who scored 252 runs with the bat at an impressive strike rate of 185.29. As far as the bowling unit is concerned, the Indian veteran pacer Shikha Pandey was the top wicket-taker for her sides with 10 wickets to her name. Her best performance with the ball came on 13th March against RCB when she returned with the figures of (3/23) in her spell. The South African all-rounder was the second-highest wicket-taker for her side with 9 wickets to her name. Her best performance with the ball came on 11th March 2023, against Gujarat Giants when she returned with the exceptional match figures of (5/15) in her spell with an economy of 3.75.
UP Warriorz
Being a completely new franchise unlike other teams they put up a very impressive performance in the inaugural edition under the leadership of the Australian wicket-keeper batter Alyssa Healy. They finished in the third position in the points table with four victories out of eight games and just narrowly missed out on making it to the final courtesy of their defeat against Mumbai Indians.
They have retained a total of 13 players namely, Alyssa Healy (overseas), Anjali Sarvani, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris (overseas), Kiran Navgire, Lauren Bell (overseas), Laxmi Yadav, Parshavi Chopra, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, S. Yashasri, Shweta Sehrawat, Sophie Ecclestone (overseas), and Tahlia Mcgrath (overseas). They have released a total of four players, Devika Vaidya, Shabnim Ismail (overseas), Shivali Shinde, and Simran Shaikh.
Whose retention and release surprised you the most from the UPW franchise?#CricketTwitter #WPL pic.twitter.com/hG1wUMdZT6
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) October 19, 2023
The Australian all-rounder Tahlia McGrath was the top run-scorer for her side scoring 302 runs at an impressive strike rate of 158.11. Her tally of runs included four half-centuries. Her best performance with the bat came on 7th March 2023, when she scored an unbeaten 90 at an impressive strike rate of 180. Skipper Alyssa Healy was the second-highest run-scorer with the bat, scoring 253 runs at a strike rate of 141.34. Her tally of runs included a couple of half-centuries. Her best performance with the bat came on 10th March 2023 against RCB when she scored an unbeaten 96 scoring at an impressive strike rate of 204.25.
As far as the bowling unit is concerned, the left-arm spinner from England Sophie Ecclestone was the top wicket-taker for her side and overall the second-highest of the tournament with 16 wickets to her name at a strike rate of 13.31 and an average of 14.68. Her best performance with the ball came on 10th March 2023, against RCB when she returned with the figures of (4/13) in her spell.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
They had a season to forget as they finished in the fourth position with just a couple of victories under their belt which came against Gujarat Giants and the UP Warriorz. They have retained a total number of 11 players namely, Asha Shobana, Disha Kasat, Ellyse Perry (overseas), Heather Knight (overseas), Indrani Roy, Kanika Ahuja, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Smriti Mandhana, Sophie Devine (overseas). They have released a total of 7 players namely, Dané Van Niekerk (overseas), Erin Burns (overseas), Komal Zanzad, Megan Schutt (overseas), Poonam Khemnar, Preeti Bose, Sahana Pawar.
Whose retention and release surprised you the most from the RCB franchise?#CricketTwitter #WPL | 📸: Getty pic.twitter.com/zIFKWiMM8p
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) October 19, 2023
The Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry was the top performer with the bat for the side scoring 253 runs at a strike rate of 123.41. Her tally of runs included a couple of half-centuries. She also picked up 4 wickets with the ball at a strike rate of 35. Her best performance with the ball came on 15th March 2023, against the UP Warriorz when she returned with the figures of (3/16) in her spell. Young sensation Shreyanka Patil picked up 6 wickets at a strike rate of 19.50 was one of the only positives for the Smriti Mandhana-led side, as far as the bowling unit is concerned.
Gujarat Giants.
They had a horrible season as they ended up at the bottom of the table after the conclusion of the league stages and they just managed to get a couple of victories under their belt. They have opted for a complete revamp in their bid to bounce back stronger, as they have released a total number of 11 players namely, Annabel Sutherland (overseas), Ashwani Kumari, Georgia Wareham (overseas), Hurley Gala, Kim Garth (overseas), Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, Parunika Sisodia, Sabbineni Meghana, Sophia Dunkley (overseas), and Sushma Verma for the upcoming edition of the WPL. While, the likes of Ashleigh Gardner (overseas), Beth Mooney (overseas), Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Laura Wolvaardt (overseas), Shabnam Shakil, Sneh Rana, and Tanuja Kanwer have been retained. The star all-rounder from Australia, Ashleigh Gardner was the lone warrior for her side, scoring 204 runs, at a strike rate of 141.66 and an average of 29.14. Her tally of runs included a couple of half-centuries. Her best performance with the bat came on 20th March 2023 against the UP Warriorz when she scored 60 runs at a strike rate of 153.84. She also picked up 10 wickets with the ball at a strike rate of 16.60. Harleen Deol was the only batter alongside Ashleigh Gardner who managed to go past the 200 runs tally (202 runs) scoring at a strike rate of 125.46. Her best performance with the bat came on 8th March 2023 against RCB when she scored 67 runs at a strike rate of 148.88.
Whose retention and release surprised you the most from the GG franchise?#CricketTwitter #WPL pic.twitter.com/ECwWfLLscL
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) October 19, 2023
As far as the bowling department is concerned, the former Ireland all-rounder who recently switched to Australia was the standout performer with the ball for the side, coming into the squad as a replacement for former West Indian all-rounder Deandra Dottin. She picked up 11 wickets with the ball at a strike rate of 13.63 and an average of 17.54 in 7 innings. Her best performance with the ball came on 5th March 2023 against the UP Warriorz when she returned with the match figures of (5/36) in her spell.
