Bengaluru:

The second edition of the Women’s Premier League, which will begin with a high-profile match between defending champions Mumbai Indians and runners-up Delhi Capitals in Bengaluru on Friday, is optimistic about fulfilling its existential objective of giving promising domestic stars a broader platform. will be. Talent. Foreign stars shone in the inaugural edition held in Mumbai, and Indians will hope to grab some of the limelight this year as the tournament takes the shape of a multi-city format and New Delhi is the second host city.

Capitals captain Meg Lanning, who has now retired from international cricket, won the Orange Cap last year for scoring the most runs, while the Purple Cap went to Mumbai’s Hayley Mathews for taking 16 wickets.

Amidst this surge of overseas players, Indian cricketers generally struggled for consistency and impact last year, but now some of the young domestic stars will be eyeing this WPL with real hope.

Let’s take Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Shreyanka Patil as an example. During the WPL 2023, she was a wide-eyed young cricketer who was in awe of rubbing shoulders with some of the best names in women’s cricket.

They played seven matches, but the focus was clearly on players like Smriti Mandhana or Ellyse Perry or Sophie Devine.

But over the last 10 months or so, Patil has carved out a niche for himself. He earned his first India cap in both Tests and ODIs in December last year, while also making his mark in the Caribbean Premier League for the Guyana Amazon Warriors.

In the interim, the 21-year-old has added more arrows to his quiver in the form of power-hitting in the death overs.

Titas Sadhu of Delhi Capitals presents a similar story. Sadhu did not get a single game despite being in the team, but the profile of the West Bengal player has changed this year.

After making his debut for India at the Hangzhou Asian Games against Bangladesh, the 19-year-old has risen to prominence.

The medium pacer’s 4-1-6-3 spell helped India defeat Sri Lanka by defending a small target of 117 in the final of the Asian Games.

Sadhu proved his performance was no fluke by taking four wickets for 17 runs against Australia in Mumbai last month, helping India to a rare T20I win over the Aussies.

Therefore, it will be difficult for the Delhi management to ignore his claim to be in the starting eleven against Mumbai or at least in the subsequent few matches.

The Capitals also have a talent who is keen to make his mark in the WPL – Minnu Mani.

The Kerala cricketer is the first player from her state to sign a WPL contract, but last year her participation was limited to just three matches and two innings to bat.

But since then, Minnu has featured in four WT20Is for India and has shown promise with her clever off-break bowling.

While it is certain that his brand of bowling will be tested at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Minnu has a great chance to defy the odds and leave a powerful mark that adds more strength to his journey ahead.

But this tournament is not just about the contenders, it is also about the leading players.

The omission will be Harmanpreet Kaur, who will have to navigate the expectations typically placed on title holders, Mandhana, who has the tough task of guiding RCB to their maiden titles in the WPL and IPL, and the UP Warriors duo of Alyssa Healy and Chamari Athapaththu. Is. The two best female batsmen in the contemporary game will be under close scrutiny.

Then there is the second line of players like Jemimah Rodrigues (Delhi) and Deepti Sharma (UP) who come with Hundred and Big Bash experience.

But they could not make a splash in WPL 1 and they would like to write a new story this time.

So, there are reputations to be protected and new reputations to be built and this could fuel women’s cricket’s own Le Mans for the next fortnight.

Match on Friday: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals Teams (from): Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Chloe Tryon, Hayley Matthews, Humaira Kazi, Issy Wong, Jintimani Kalita, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Pooja Vastrakar, Priyanka Bala, Saika Ishaque, Yastika Bhatia, Shabnim Ismail, S Sajana, Amandeep Kaur, Fatima Jaffer, Keerthana Balakrishnan.

Delhi Capitals: Meg Lanning (captain), Jemimah Rodrigues, Laura Harris, Shafali Verma, Alice Capsey, Annabel Sutherland, Arundhati Reddy, Ashwini Kumari, Jess Jonassen, Marizanne Capp, Sneha Deepti, Minnu Mani, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Aparna Mondal. , Tania Bhatia, Poonam Yadav, Titas Sadhu.

The match will start at 7.30 pm Indian time.