Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 witnessed the emergence of exceptional debutants who left a lasting impression with their remarkable performances, adding an exciting new dimension to the tournament.
Sajeevan Sajana
S Sajana from Kerala, the find of WPL 2024 for the Mumbai Indians, took off from game 1 of WPL 2024 against the Delhi Capitals where she took strike for the last ball of the match with the team requiring 5 runs and smashed a maximum off her 1st ball in the competition. Seeing her performance, the teammates refer to her as the big hitter for the team. In the WPL 2024, she scored 86 runs in 5 innings averaging 43.00 at a strike rate of 165.38.
Shabnam Shakil
Shabnim Shakil the 16-year-old from Vishakapatnam, played her debut match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), where Gujarat Giants registered their 1st win of the season. In the next match against Mumbai Indians, Shakil took her maiden WPL wicket in the form of Nat Sciver-Brunt. But the breakthrough match for her was against the UP Warriorz; she wreaked havoc at the top with the new ball, dismissing the likes of Alyssa Healy, Chamari Athapaththu, and Shweta Sehrawat ending her spell at 4-0-11-3, bowling 19 dot balls, which is also the joint most in an innings by any bowler and was adjudged player of the match.
Sophie Molineux
Sophie Molineux, the Australian all-rounder has had an amazing season so far with the ball and with the bat when required on occasions and has also opened for the RCB in the last 2 games with captain Smriti Mandhana. In the 8 games she has played so far, she has taken 8 wickets with best figures of 4-0-25-3 against the Gujarat Giants and also scored 67 runs in 6 innings with some crucial runs when required and been a key part of the RCB line-up.
Titas Sadhu
Titas Sadhu, the pace sensation from West Bengal and the U-19 World Cup winner, made her much-awaited WPL debut against the Gujarat Giants and kicked off with a maiden over. In the following match against Mumbai Indians, she bagged her maiden WPL wicket. In the next match against the UP Warriorz, she took 2 wickets with a spell of 3-0-23-2 and till now, in 4 matches, she has taken 3 wickets with an economy below 8.
Saima Thakor
Saima Thakor, the Mumbai pacer did reasonably well in the limited opportunities she got for UP Warriorz and would be remembered for the banter she won with Shafali Verma after making her off-stump fly off the ground. She also bowled her best spell in the same match of 4-0-30-2 and overall in the 4 innings she bowled and took 3 wickets, proving to be a vital prospect ahead as a pace battery.
