The first season of WPL from tomorrow: 5 teams will play 20 league matches in 23 days, Delhi strongest; Know everything about the tournament

A day later i.e. from March 4, the first season of the Women's Premier League (WPL) is starting. In this 23-day league, 5 teams will play 20 leagues and two knockout matches. The tournament will begin on Saturday at 7:30 pm with the match between Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians at the DY Patil Stadium. All 22 matches of the competition will be played at DY Patil and Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

The Delhi Capitals team, captained by Meg Lanning, looks the most balanced and strong. Whereas, the playing-11 of Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore is a bit weak.

Which teams are playing?

The first season of the Women's Premier League (WPL) will see 5 teams playing. These include Delhi Capitals (DC), Mumbai Indians (MI), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Gujarat Giants (GG), and UP Warriors (UPW).

Meg Lanning is the captain of Delhi. Whereas, there are Harmanpreet Kaur from Mumbai, Smriti Mandhana from Bangalore, Beth Mooney from Gujarat, and Alyssa Healy from UP. In this way, the command of 3 teams is with Australian players, while the command of 2 is given to Indian players.

How many matches will a team play?

There will be 20 matches on the league stage from March 4 to 21. Like the initial season of men's IPL, here also every team will play 2-2 matches against each other. In this way, each team will play at least 8 matches in the league stage.

The first-placed team in the points table after 20 league matches will directly qualify for the final. At the same time, there will be an eliminator match on March 24 between the second and third-placed teams. The losing team will finish in third place and the winning team will play the final on March 26 at the Brabourne Stadium.

First winner after 22 matches

There will be a total of 22 matches in the tournament including 20 matches in the league stage and 2 matches in the qualifiers. After this, the first champion of the Women's Premier League (WPL) will be founded.

What time will the matches be held?

There will be 20 league matches of the tournament in 17 days. There will be 4 doubleheaders on March 5, 18, 20, and 21, ie 2 matches in a single day. The first match will start at 3:30 pm and the second at 7:30 pm. Apart from these 4 days, all the matches will start from 7:30 pm only. The eliminator and final match will also be played from 7:30 pm.

There will be rest days on March 17 and 19, because on this day there will be ODI series matches between India-Australia men's teams in India. The WPL matches were not held on this day so that the spectators could spend time at both places.

Delhi Capitals most balanced team

Australia's Meg Lanning has been made the captain of the team. Jemimah Rodrigues is the vice-captain and the team has top-class international players like Shefali Verma, Marian Kapp, Ellyse Capsey, Jess Jonassen, Radha Yadav, and Shikha Pandey.

Strength: There are 6 international all-rounders. Of these, 5 played the T20 World Cup in South Africa in the past. There are also 7 international Indian players on the team. Associate country star Tara Norris has also been included so that they will be able to feed 5 foreign players in the team.

Weakness: Lack of experience with extra players. There will be problems if top players are injured. Not betting on foreign wicketkeepers can be costly.

Possible Playing XI: Shefali Verma, Meg Lanning, Jemima Rodriguez, Marijan Kapp, Laura Harris, Tania Bhatia (wk), Elise Capsey/Jess Jonassen, Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Tara Norris, Titas Sadhu.

A top-class all-rounder in Gujarat Giants

Women's T20 World Cup player of the tournament Ashley Gardner and player of the final Beth Mooney is in Gujarat. Mooney is the captain of the team and the team also has top-class all-rounders like Georgia Wareheim, Sneh Rana, Annabel Sutherland, Deandra Dottin, Manasi Joshi, and Harleen Deol.

Strength: Foreign batsmen, domestic spinners, and spin-bowling all-rounders are giving strength to the team. The batting lineup is so strong that the lack of domestic batsmen will not be felt.

Weekdays: There are no specialist pacers. Foreign and domestic experts are not fast bowlers. There is no dearth of domestic batsmen and world-class leg spinners in the batting line-up either.

Possible Playing XI: Beth Mooney, Sophia Dunkley, Deandra Dottin/Annabel Sutherland, Harleen Deol, Ashley Gardner, Sushma Verma (wk), Tanuja Kanwar, Sneh Rana, Manasi Joshi, Monika Patel, and Dayalan Hemlata.

World Cup-winning players in UP Warriors

Australia's wicket-keeper batter Alyssa Healy has been given the captaincy of the team. Apart from these, the team also includes World Cup-winning players like Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, and Shabnim Ismail, who played in the final of the Women's T20 World Cup from South Africa.

Strengths: There are all kinds of top-class players in playing XI. Australian players are making the batting order very aggressive. Domestic spinners will strengthen the team. The playing eleven is balanced.

Weekdays: Lack of domestic batters and fast bowlers. Lack of options due to having only 5 extra players. There are not many top-class fast bowlers on the team.

Possible Playing XI: Shweta Sehrawat, Alyssa Healy (wk), Tahilia McGrath/Grace Harris, Kiran Navgire, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Eccleston, Parshvi Chopra, Rajeshwari Gaikwad, Anjali Sarwani, Shabnim Ismail and Devika Vaidya.

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