The inaugural edition's winner Mumbai Indians will bank on their core group of players while two-time finalists Delhi Capitals will expect fireworks from Shafali Verma when they face-off in the second game of the Women's Premier League here on Saturday. The finalists of the first WPL in 2023, both Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals made it to the knockouts in the second edition last year but lost to the eventual champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the eliminator and the final respectively. Those defeats were certainly not reflective of how well MI and DC had fared until the knockouts stage, with Harmanpreet Kaur's side finishing second in the points table with five wins in eight matches and Meg Lanning's team topping it with six wins in as many outings. The winners of WPL 2023, Mumbai Indians tend to lean on their core group of players both overseas and Indian and a similar approach can be expected this year, with only a few changes taking place in terms of squad composition. India pacer Pooja Vastrakar, who was grappling with an unspecified injury, was ruled out of the competition and has been replaced by slow left-arm orthodox bowler Parunika Sisodia, who was one of the main performers in India's title-winning campaign in the U-19 Women's T20 World Cup recently. Mumbai Indians have let go of England's Issy Wong, who took the first-ever WPL hat-trick in 2023, after the player lost form and the franchise found the leader of their attack in South Africa's Shabnim Ismail. Among domestic talents, another member of the U-19 T20 World Cup winning squad G Kamalini would be one to watch out for, having finished as the third highest scorer in the competition with 143 runs in seven matches. Apart from a strong leader in Harmanpreet, MI have strong figures from other international sides such as Nat Sciver-Brunt (England), Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Amelia Kerr (New Zealand), as well as South Africans Nadine de Klerk, Shabnim Ismail and Chloe Tryon. While Yastika Bhatia is MI's No 1 wicketkeeper-batter, other Indian players in Saika Ishaque, Sajana Sajeevan, uncapped Akshita Maheshwari and Amanjot Kaur will be expected to play their roles to perfection. On their part, Delhi Capitals will be keen to do one better after finishing as runner-up for two times in a row ever since the competition began. One of the most consistent teams in the competition, the Lanning-led Delhi have strong talent base across departments but the key will be to deliver in crucial matches. All eyes will be on the explosive Indian batter Shafali who has responded to her exclusion from the Indian side with runs in domestic cricket. She forms a lethal opening pair with Lanning at the top, while the likes of Australia's Annabel Sutherland, England's Alice Capsey and India's Jemimah Rodrigues form the core of their middle order. All-rounder Sutherland will hope to draw inspiration from her recent success of having struck 163 in the only Test of the women's Ashes followed by winning the highest individual honour in Australian cricket. While Delhi boasts of three wicketkeeper-batters in India's Taniyaa Bhatia, Nandini Kashyap and Scotland's Sarah Bryce, their bowling looks settled with Marizanne Kapp as the leader of the attack, backed by Australia's Jess Jonassen, India's Radha Yadav and Shikha Pandey as well as Titas Sadhu.
struck 105 in the final match of the series against Australia in Perth and 54 in the first game of the ongoing T20I rubber against the West Indies in Mumbai to headline the latest rankings
UP Warriorz will be looking to bounce back and avenge their earlier defeat when they take on a resurgent Gujarat Giants in a crucial return-leg Women's Premier League fixture in Lucknow on Monday.
IMAGES from the Women's Premier League match played between Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz in Navi Mumbai on Friday.
Images from the WPL match between MI and Gujarat Giants.
England beat India by four wickets in second T20I, win series
Smriti Mandhana, Ellyse Perry, Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning and Harmanpreet Kaur were some of the big names retained by their respective franchises for the next edition of the Women's Premier League.
Harmanpreet Kaur-led Mumbai Indians beat Delhi Capitals to be crowned champions of the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League.
Uncapped Saika Ishaque's stellar showing with the ball and Hayley Matthews' superb all-round showing helped Mumbai Indians rout Delhi Capitals by eight wickets in the WPL 2023 match.
Images from the Women's Premier League 2023 match between UP Warriorz vs Mumbai Indians played at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Mumbai Indians aim to cap their superb WPL season by defeating Meg Lanning's Delhi Capitals in the final of the inaugural edition of the T20 league on Sunday.
The pair was part of the victorious 2017 ODI World Cup winning England team, that beat India in the title clash and also played at the 2022 ODI World Cup, in which England finished runners-up.
India women registered the biggest victory in terms of runs in the history of women's Test cricket.
Becomes first player to pick a hat-trick in the Women's Premier League.
Richa was only dismissed twice in five innings and scored at a strike-rate exceeding 130.
'Mallika Sagar is a terrific auctioneer. Confident, clear and very poised. Straight away the right choices in the WPL. Well done @BCCI'.
India's batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, spinner Ravi Bishnoi and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh also feature in ICC T20I Team of the Year for 2023.
Following two convincing wins in the Women's T20 World Cup, Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian women's team will have their task cut out when they take on England at St. George's Park in Gqeberha on Saturday.
Alice Capsey brought up the joint-fastest half-century at a Women's T20 WorldCup during her stunning knock
Images from the WPL match between Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants played at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Saturday
Mandhana moves up to 6th, Harmapreet drops to 8th in ICC women's ODI rankings
Meg Lanning and Jemimah Rodrigues smashed commanding fifties as Delhi Capitals thrashed Mumbai Indians by 29 runs.
WPL will be held this month in Mumbai across two venues -- DY Patil Stadium and Brabourne Stadium.
Richa Ghosh's exploits during the side's run to the semis of the Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa earned her a place
In a thrilling finish at the DY Patil Stadium on Saturday, UP Warriorz clinched handed Mumbai Indians their first loss of the season.
Bangladesh will take on Scotland in the tournament opener in an afternoon fixture followed by a clash between Asian teams Pakistan and Sri Lanka later in the day at Sharjah.
We did not expect pitch to help spinners so much on Day 2: Deepti Sharma
England captain Heather Knight on Saturday conceded India showed them how to play in testing conditions after Harmanpreet Kaur's side notched up the biggest-ever win by runs in women's Test cricket.
Indian opener Smriti Mandhana on Sunday admitted that playing back-to-back matches was tough.
India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur on Wednesday rued that her bowlers couldn't properly execute their plans in the first T20I against England but said it was a new bowling line-up and they need such games heading into next year's T20 World Cup.
Images from the WPL 2024 match between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants in New Delhi on Saturday.
IMAGES from the WPL match played between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants in Bengaluru on Sunday.
With a line-up of thrilling matches and intense competition, the ICC Women's T20 World Cup is sure to captivate fans around the globe. Stay tuned for updates and highlights as the tournament unfolds. Ahead of the tournament, here's everything you need to know about the upcoming ICC Women's T20 World Cup.
Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu won her maiden women's ODI Cricketer of the Year award, becoming the first female cricketer from the country to win an ICC award.
Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur feels that focussing on winning crucial moments of matches and not the ultimate prize worked for her side.
The second edition of the Women's Premier League, beginning in Bengaluru on Friday with a high-profile match between defending champions Mumbai Indians and runners-up Delhi Capitals, will be optimistic about meeting its existential purpose of giving a wider platform to promising home-grown talents.
The incumbent England skipper Heather Knight backed under-fire Smriti Mandhana, the costliest player in WPL, who had a poor run with the bat, to come back stronger.
India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur came much cheaper for Mumbai Indians at nearly half the price of Mandhana at Rs 1.80 crore.
WPL witnessed special performances from some of the best cricketers in the world
IMAGES from the Women's Premier League match played between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals in Navi Mumbai on Monday.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances