We are less than 24 hours away now from the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 edition, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) initiative to boost the Indian women’s cricket team’s performance.
The Women’s Premier League (WPL) is a women’s equavalent of the world famous men’s T20 cricket league hosted by the BCCI, the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Despite the worldwide success of the Indian men’s cricket team, the women’s cricket team have been lacking the progress and are not able to match the level of competition require to beat teams like England and Australia and win the World Cup.
And like how the IPL transformed the men’s cricket for India, giving platform to unknown talents showcase their talent in the IPL, the same is expected of the Women’s Premier League as well.
A total of 5 teams are participating in the competition that will see women’s players from India and outside India take part in the competition. In this article, let us have a look at the 5 captains of the 5 teams in the WPL 2023.
Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 Teams
A total of 5 teams are taking part in the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023. 3 of the teams are owned by the existing IPL team owners and 3 are new into Indian cricket forum. The 6 teams are: Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz.
5 Captains of the 5 Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 teams
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians, who are one of the 3 teams owned by the existing IPL franchises, have announced the Indian women’s cricket team captain Harmanpreet Kaur as the captain of the team. Harmanpreet has played all formats for India and has huge experience beside her name. She has played 151 T20I matches and has scored 3058 runs and taken 32 wickets.
Royal Challengers Bangalore will also play Women’s Premier League
Royal Challengers Bangalore have always had some of the top players in the men’s IPL team and same is the case in the Women’s Premier League as well. They have some of the top names in women’s cricket in their disposal, including star Indian batter Smriti Mandhana, who has been named captain. The 26 years old Smriti has played 116 matches for India and has scored 2802 runs.
Delhi Capitals
Delhi Capitals is one of the most successful franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history. The Delhi Capitals will be looking to lift the inaugural WPL Trophy under the leadership of Australian player Meg Lanning’s leadership. The 30-years-old has played 132 matches in her T20 career and has scored 3405 runs.
Gujarat Giants
Gujarat Giants is a top sporting franchise in India who owns various sporting team in other sports. They also own the Gulf Giants in the International League T20 (ILT20) in UAE and also won the competition. So they are a team with winning mentality, as such, they have made Australian wicketkeeper batter Beth Mooney as the captain. She has played 83 T20I matches and has scored 2350 runs.
UP Warriorz
UP Warriorz is another team who have sporting franchises in India in other sports, but do not own a cricket team in India. And just like Gujarat Giants, they also have a team in the ILT20, the Sharjah Warriors. They have named another Australian wicketkeeper batter Alyssa Healy as the captain of the team. Healy, the wife of Australian star pacer Mitchell Starc, has played 141 matches and has scored 2489 runs.