The upcoming 9th edition of the Women’s Big Bash League is set to commence on 19th October 2023. The draft system for the overseas players was introduced for the first time last year in the Men’s version of the Big Bash League. This time around the overseas player draft system makes its maiden appearance in the Women’s Big Bash League. Earlier, the participating teams had the liberty to pick their overseas players.
A total of five lists of overseas players from various parts of the world participating in the draft were released. We will have a look at the list of Indian Players participating in the overseas draft for the upcoming edition of the WBBL. The drafting process will be covered live on Fox Sports and streamed on Kayo.
The players participating in the draft are divided into four categories Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Five Indian players including skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Ghosh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, and Pooja Vastrakar have enrolled themselves in the Platinum category of the draft.
𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐬!
18 of India's cricket stars are in the spotlight at the WBBL 2023 draft! Who's your top choice for the upcoming season? 🤔#CricketTwitter #WBBL09 pic.twitter.com/XkhxYDBNmW
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 30, 2023
The 19-year-old wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh recently played for the London Spirit in the third edition of the women’s hundred. She came in as a replacement for the injured Georgia Redmayne. She scored 107 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 115.05. She gradually grew in confidence and as a result, improved her performance towards the second half of the tournament. She was a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the inaugural edition of the WPL. She scored 138 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 135.29.
The Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur started her journey in the Women’s Big Bash League with the Sydney Thunder, back in the year 2016. She was there with the side for four years till 2019. She played 35 matches scoring 713 runs at a strike rate of 116.88 in 32 innings. Her tally of runs included three half-centuries. Her best performance with the bat for the Sydney Thunder came against the Perth Scorchers when she scored an unbeaten 64.
Apart from her exploits with the bat, she has also been more than a handy bowler for her side, picking up 12 wickets at an average of 18.83 and an impressive strike rate of 15 with the ball for the Sydney Thunder.
She moved to Melbourne Renegades in the year 2021 the year she was awarded the Player of the Series for her exceptional performances scoring 399 runs with the bat and picking up 15 wickets with the ball for the Melbourne Renegades.
The 22-year-old batter Jemimah Rodrigues started her journey in the WBBL with the Melbourne Renegades in the year 2021. She scored 333 runs at a strike rate of 116.43 in 13 innings. Her tally of runs included a couple of half-centuries. Her best performance with the bat for the Melbourne Renegades came against Sydney Thunder when she scored an unbeaten 75 at a strike rate of 133.92. She moved to Melbourne Stars last season.
The 26-year-old All-rounder Deepti Sharma made her WBBL debut in the year 2021 while playing for the Sydney Thunder. She scored 211 runs at a strike rate of 106.56 and an average of over 35 in the 11 innings for the Sydney Thunder. She also picked up 13 wickets with the ball at a strike rate of 20.7.
The 23-year-old all-rounder from India Pooja Vastrakar, recently played in the ODI series against Bangladesh. She played for the Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash League last year. In the seven innings so far, she scored 32 runs and picked up two wickets with the ball for the Brisbane Heat.
The other Indian stars who have enrolled their names into the draft include the wicket-keeper batter Yastika Bhatia, Harleen Deol, Hurley Gala, Mannat Kashyap, Amanjot Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Shreyanka Patil, Sneh Rana, Meghana Shabbineni, Renuka Thakur, Radha Yadav, and Meghna Singh. The drafting process will get underway on 3rd September 2023 in the afternoon in Melbourne.