DC, MI and UPW retain majority of squad, Gujarat Giants opt for overhaul ahead of WPL 2024 | Cricket News
The five Women’s Premier League franchises have submitted their l of released and retained players for the second season of the tournament, with Gujarat Giants – who finished bottom of the table in 2023 – opting for a big overhaul.Unsurprisingly, the three teams that entered the play-offs in the inaugural edition played earlier this year – Delhi Capitals, champions Mumbai Indians, and UP Warriorz – retained a majority of their players.
The window for the five franchises to retain players for the WPL 2024 season came to an end on October 15, the BCCI said in a release on Thursday. While 60 players, including 21 overseas cricketers, were retained across five franchises, 29 players were released from their exing squads.
Table-toppers DC retained the most number of players, releasing only three. Meg Lanning, who has recently been out of action but has made a comeback in the Australian domestic season, is among the retained players. Champions MI, led Harmanpreet Kaur, have released the only Australian they had in their squad in Heather Graham.
While UPW also released only four players, they perhaps sprung the biggest surprise of the day letting go of South African pacer Shabnim Ismail, an all-time great. Ismail, however, couldn’t feature regularly for the franchise in the first season due to the overseas cap in the playing XI.
RCB and GG were the strugglers of the opening season and it has reflected in the release l. While RCB have let go of the likes of Dane van Niekerk and Megan Schutt, GG let go of internationals in Annabel Sutherland and Sophia Dunkley, apart from Indian opener S Meghana.
While the BCCI has been looking at hosting the WPL in the October-November, with the World Cup underway, the event will mostly be slotted for the early next year. The first edition of the tournament held this year started on March 4 and finished on March 26. However, with the next season of IPL scheduled to begin mid March, the WPL could begin as early as February.
The following players from the five WPL franchises were retained and released (* denotes overseas player):
Delhi Capitals (DC)
Retained Players: Alice Capsey*, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Jess Jonassen*, Laura Harris*, Marizanne Kapp*, Meg Lanning*, Minnu Mani, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sneha Deepthi, Taniyaa Bhatia, Titas Sadhu
Released Players: Aparna Mondal, Jasia Akhter, Tara Norris*
Gujarat Giants (GG)
Retained Players: Ashleigh Gardner*, Beth Mooney*, Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Laura Wolvaardt*, Shabnam Shakil, Sneh Rana, Tanuja Kanwer
Released Players: Annabel Sutherland*, Ashwani Kumari, Georgia Wareham*, Hurley Gala, Kim Garth*, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, Parunika Sisodia, Sabbineni Meghana, Sophia Dunkley*, Sushma Verma
Mumbai Indians (MI)
Retained Players: Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr*, Chloe Tryon*, Harmanpreet Kaur, Hayley Matthews*, Humairaa Kaazi, Isabelle Wong*, Jintimani Kalita, Natalie Sciver*, Pooja Vastrakar, Priyanka Bala, Saika Ishaque, Yastika Bhatia
Released Players: Dhara Gujjar, Heather Graham*, Neelam Bisht, Sonam Yadav
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)
Retained Players: Asha Shobana, Disha Kasat, Ellyse Perry*, Heather Knight*, Indrani Roy, Kanika Ahuja, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Smriti Mandhana, Sophie Devine*
Released Players: Dané Van Niekerk*, Erin Burns*, Komal Zanzad, Megan Schutt*, Poonam Khemnar, Preeti Bose, Sahana Pawar
UP Warriorz (UPW)Most Read
1
India vs Bangladesh Live Score, World Cup 2023: Jasprit Bumrah picks up Mushfiqur Rahim, BAN six down
2
Amitabh Bachchan refused to wear topor at Bengali wedding with Jaya Bachchan, told her parents, ‘I will marry your daughter but…’
See More
Retained Players: Alyssa Healy*, Anjali Sarvani, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris*, Kiran Navgire, Lauren Bell*, Laxmi Yadav, Parshavi Chopra, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, S. Yashasri, Shweta Sehrawat, Sophie Ecclestone*, Tahlia Mcgrath*
Released Players: Devika Vaidya, Shabnim Ismail*, Shivali Shinde, Simran Shaikh
Unsurprisingly, the three teams that entered the play-offs in the inaugural edition played earlier this year – Delhi Capitals, champions Mumbai Indians, and UP Warriorz – retained a majority of their players.
