As India women cricketer set foot into hitherto uncharted territory, it would be fair to say the auction has gone way beyond expectation for several of them if one compares it with the IPL.
The pinnacle of her innings occurred in the penultimate ball of the 19th over when she sent Deepti Sharma's delivery soaring over the long-on boundary, an 80-metre six that thrilled the fans and shattered a car window.
Shabnim Ismail bowls fastest delivery in women's cricket, breaches 130kph
City's Khadija Shaw was named Women's Player of the Year, with Grace Clinton picking up the Young Player of the Year after excelling on loan at Tottenham Hotspur from Manchester United.
'The Asia Cup matter or any other ACC event issue has not come up for discussion at any level, hence any news or report on that is purely speculative and imaginary.'
Gujarat Giants recorded a comfortable 19-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore to log their first points after four defeats.
Bala Devi is hoping for an Indian Super League-style women's league in the near future.
Virat Kohli said international T20 leagues around the world had played a big role in elevating the profile of cricket and ensuring it was showcased at the Olympic Games.
Ahead of their tournament opener of the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League, Delhi Capitals' Poonam Yadav and Taniyaa Bhatia opened up about the doors the WPL opens up.
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.
IMAGES from the WPL match between UP Warriorz and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) played in Lucknow on Saturday
Three Indians, including cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur, were named by TIME magazine as the top 100 emerging leaders shaping the world.
India and Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur believes the upcoming edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) will play a crucial role in the team's preparation for the ODI World Cup, which India is hosting later this year. She also highlighted the impressive performance of the India U-19 women's team, who recently won their second T20 World Cup title. Mumbai Indians' bowling coach and team mentor, Jhulan Goswami, expressed confidence in the team's composition and the impact of the WPL on women's cricket in India.
Mumbai Indians came up with a dominant performance with both bat and ball to cruise to an emphatic seven-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Harmanpreet Kaur's quickfire fifty and Nat Sciver-Brunt's fine all-round showing lifted Mumbai Indians to their second Women's Premier League title.
IMAGES from the Women's Premier League game in Bengaluru between Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz on Wednesday
Smriti Mandhana smashed a blistering 47-ball 81 to power reigning champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a resounding eight-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals
Perry (57, 34b, 6x4, 2x6) and Ghosh (64 not out, 27b, 7x4, 4x6) were in sublime touch as defending champions RCB scaled down the target of 202 with ease in the tournament opener.
Australia's Big Bash League boosts player payments amid T20 talent war
'Here's to sun, the sea, the blue-and-gold of Mumbai. Here's to our first-ever #WPL jersey and all she brings', Mumbai Indians tweeted.
UP Warriorz, facing elimination in the Women's Premier League, will aim to spoil Royal Challengers Bangalore's playoff hopes in a crucial encounter on Saturday.
Verma's team is currently top of the table with two wins from three matches.
IMAGES from the Women's Premier League match played between Gujarat Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday
Rohit Sharma's poor run of form has not allowed Mumbai Indians to set the tone in the Indian Premier League ((IPL) so far, believes former Indian women's captain Anjum Chopra.
Vrinda scripted history by becoming the first uncapped player to command a staggering bid of Rs 1.3 crore
Amanjot Kaur, who was sidelined by a back stress fracture requiring surgery and a ligament tear in her hand after last year's WPL, claimed three wickets for 22 runs before blasting a 27-ball 34 to help MI chase down RCB's 167 with one ball to spare in the WPL match in Bengaluru on Friday.
At one stage, New Zealand and Royal Challengers Bangalore all-rounder Sophie Devine even made a plea for pushing back the boundary limits.
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.
Starc, who won the IPL last year with Kolkata Knight Riders, said having lack of information was also among the reasons he chose not to go back to India.
Royal Challengers Bangalore has been officially renamed as Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of this year's IPL
Last week, Premier League players had launched the Players Together Fund, which primarily aims to help the NHS.
England beat India by four wickets in second T20I, win series
All-rounder Dottin, who is currently in India with the West Indies team for the white-ball series, was the costliest among overseas players and was bought by the Giants for the second time in the auction.
Former captain and star striker Bala Devi returned to the Indian women's football team after a hiatus of four years as the 22-member national squad for the upcoming Asian Games 2023 was announced in New Delhi on Friday.
DC players, including Jemimah Rodrigues and Alice Capsey, displayed true sportsmanship by offering words of comfort to the heartbroken RCB duo of Richa Ghosh and Shreyanka Patil.
Putting up a fabulous performance, the stars had the spectators all geared up for the match.
Placed in the platinum category, Harmanpreet was retained by the Renegades along with Hayley Matthews of the West Indies.
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.
Grace Harris blasted a quickfire half-century to help UP Warriorz register an emphatic six-wicket win against Gujarat Giants.
IPL chairman Arun Dhumal believes that the media rights value of the league has the potential to touch a staggering USD 50 billion over the next two decades, provided it keeps innovating and improvising with fans' interests in mind.
