WPL 2023: Meg Lanning, Healy, Harmanpreet, Mandhana & Mooney- Meet the captains of WPL teams

WPL 2023:As the Women’s Premier League is all set to get started, all the teams have begun announcing their captains ahead of the maiden tournament. After the major tournament of the Women’s T20 World Cup, all eyes will be on the premier league of women. Among the five teams, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and UP Warriorz were the first to announce their captains. Gujarat Giants also announced its captain as Beth Mooney. Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals recently announced their captains, Harmanpreet Kaur and Meg Lanning respectively. Let’s find out more about the women leading the teams in the inaugural WPL:

WPL 2023 captains: Royal Challengers Bangalore

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Smriti Mandhana will lead the RCB in the inaugural edition of WPL. Mandhana was the most expensive in the WPL auction and has been one of the pillars of the Indian batting line-up across formats. She is a two-time ICC player of the year and has hammered her career-best T20I score of 87 runs against Ireland to lift her side into the ICC T20 World Cup semi-finals in South Africa. She performed her best at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and hit 159 runs in five matches at a stunning strike rate of 151.42. In December last year, Madhana broke the world record of West Indies player, Stafanie Taylor’s record of most 50+ scores while chasing in women’s T20Is. The Indian batter has scored 12 fifty-plus scores in her career till now, which is more than Taylor’s.

WPL 2023 captains: UP Warriorz

UP Warriorz announced Australian cricketer Alyssa Healy as the captain of its team. Healy is one of the most recognised faces in women’s cricket. She has played a total of 139 T20Is for Australia and scored close to 2,500 runs with one century and 14 fifties. Apart from being an exceptional batter, she is also one of the best wicket-keepers in the sport with 110 dismissals in T20Is. She is a five-time T20 World Cup winner and was also a part of the Australian side that won the One Day International (ODI) World Cup last year in New Zealand. Healy amassed 2446 runs in 139 T20Is for Australia. She has also captained the Sydney Sixers in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). Healy’s Warriorz will kickstart their WPL campaign on March 5 (Sunday) against Gujarat Giants at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

WPL 2023 captains: Gujarat Giants

Gujarat Titans will be led by the Australian wicketkeeper-batter Beth Mooney. The 29-year-old cricketer has a stellar record of T20Is and has scored a total of 2350 runs in 83 matches at an average of 40.51 and a strike rate of 124.60. She has hit two international hundreds in the format and 18 fifties in the just concluded Women’s T20 World Cup. Besides the three World Cup trophies in the format and a Commonwealth Games gold, Mooney also has won the Women’s Big Bash League twice.

Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals are yet to announce their captains. Take a look at the players of both teams:

WPL 2023 captains: Mumbai Indians

Harmanpreet Kaur will lead Mumbai Indians in the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL). The India captain, who is known for her aggressive style of leadership, revealed how to put the opposition under pressure.Having played with Jhulan Goswami in the India team, Harmanpreet said that she is excited to work with the former cricketer who was appointed as the bowling coach and mentor of Mumbai Indians.Harmanpreet has led India to the knockouts in the last three T20 World Cups, including the final of the 2020 edition in Australia. In the recent T20 World Cup that finished in South Africa last month, India narrowly missed out on the final berth when they lost to eventual champions Australia by five runs after Harmanpreet's 52 off 34.

WPL 2023 captains: Delhi Capitals

Australia captain Meg Lanning is set to lead the Delhi Capitals franchise in the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) that starts on March 4 in Mumbai. Lanning has won a record four T20 World Cups as captain for Australia, including the most recent one in South Africa last month having beaten the hosts in the final. Jemimah Rodrigues will be the vice-captain of Capitals, who begin their WPL campaign on March 5 against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Brabourne Stadium.

Lanning said of her appointment: "It's a very proud moment for me, firstly to be involved with Delhi Capitals and then to lead them. It's about enjoying yourself, and getting the best out of yourself."

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