For 30-year-old all-rounder Nazma Khan, her maiden Women’s Premier League opportunity with the Delhi Capitals is more than a contract; it is the realisation of a message she sent to Jemimah Rodrigues a year ago. Picked for ₹10 lakh in the accelerated round of the WPL 2027 mini-auction in Kochi on October 28, Nazma now has the chance to share a dressing room with some of the biggest names in women’s cricket and to learn from them on the sport’s grandest domestic franchise stage.
A Dream Message That Became Reality
The Delhi Capitals went into the auction having spent ₹13.90 crore on retentions, leaving them ₹1.10 crore to spend with five squad slots available, including one for an overseas player. They signed four players for a combined ₹1.05 crore: Kiran Navgire for ₹75 lakh, Kashvi Kandikuppa and Kirstie Gordon for ₹10 lakh each, and Nazma Khan for ₹10 lakh, taking their squad from 13 to 17 and leaving just ₹5 lakh unused.
Nazma’s selection carried a particularly special story. A year earlier, she had messaged Jemimah about her dream of playing alongside her and being part of a winning team, hoping the India batter would eventually see it. When Jemimah opened Instagram to text Nazma after the auction, she found that old message and shared the screenshot on her story: “Opened Instagram just now to text Nazma and stumbled upon a message from her a year ago. One year later, the manifestation is real. Welcome to the family.”
For Nazma, the moment was nothing short of a dream come true. “I feel there are so many big players in our team. There’s Jemimah [Rodrigues], Shafali Verma, Laura Wolvaardt, Marizanne Kapp, and Shree Charani. Playing with such big players is a big achievement in itself,” she said. “Being in the midst of those players on that stage, because every player has a great quality, I feel like observing the opposition and thinking, ‘What can I learn from this?”
The 30-year-old has identified exactly what she hopes to absorb from her new teammates. “Jemimah is a very busy player. She always calculates; she reads the ball well. Her game awareness is very good. She handles situations very well. And Laura Wolvaardt, her skill, and how calm and composed she is,” Nazma explained. “I feel this is just the beginning for me in life. From every player, I will get to learn a lot. And obviously, it’s fun to do my best in the midst of all that.”
Domestic Success Earns Nazma Her WPL Breakthrough
Nazma arrives at the Capitals after an impressive domestic run. She took 24 wickets during Delhi’s triumphant Senior Women’s One Day Trophy campaign and later helped the North Delhi Strikers win the Women’s Delhi Premier League, where she claimed the Purple Cap. Her path, however, was far from straightforward: after six years on Delhi’s bench, brief stints with Nagaland and Uttarakhand followed before the televised Women’s DPL in 2024 brought her performances to the attention of scouts.
Currently representing Delhi in the ongoing Senior Women’s T20 Trophy Elite, Nazma will now look to convert domestic consistency into WPL impact. The fifth edition of the tournament runs from January 14 to February 7, 2027, with Jemimah Rodrigues leading a Delhi Capitals squad that also includes Shafali Verma, Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp, Laura Wolvaardt, Chinelle Henry, Lucy Hamilton, Minnu Mani, Niki Prasad, Sree Charani, Mamatha Madiwala, Nandni Sharma and Deeya Yadav.
The Capitals will be desperate to finally go one better. They have finished as runners-up in all four previous WPL editions: Mumbai Indians won the inaugural title in 2023, Royal Challengers Bengaluru triumphed in 2024, Mumbai reclaimed the crown in 2025, and RCB lifted their second title in 2026.
For Nazma, though, the immediate ambition is simpler: make every training session, every conversation and every opportunity count, while keeping sight of the bigger prize: an India call-up.
(Quotes sourced from ANI)
I am Yash Tailor, and I believe work should be driven by passion. Therefore, after completing my Engineering, I chose to work in the Cricket industry, my passion. My goal is to reach a stage where I truly enjoy what I do and give my best to every task with energy and purpose.