WPL 2023: Mumbai Indians face Gujarat Giants as new era usher in women's cricket

The stage is set for the curtain-raiser of the Women's Premier League (WPL) as Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants go head-to-head in the curtain-raiser encounter. The contest to be played at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai will start a new era in women's sports in India as five teams will compete for the inaugural edition. Led by Harmanpreet Kaur, Mumbai will look to start on high but are likely to face a stern challenge in the form of Gujarat who are led by Australian star Beth Mooney.

The first season of WPL already took the spotlight when the auctions were made in February with a host of big names going under the hammer. While the entire edition will be played in Mumbai, the WPL is still expected to attract a host of cricketing fans from across the globe. Smriti Mandhana, the most expensive player in the WPL auctions will take charge of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) while Meg Lanning will be part of Delhi Capitals. Alyssa Healy will take charge of the UP Warriorz in a bid to win the tournament in the first time of asking. All the captains have gathered tons of experience at the international level while also gracing the women's game in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) and The Hundred.

Interestingly, Indian tennis star Sania Mirza is also going to join the party having been announced as the mentor for the RCB franchise.

Eyes will be firmly cast on the top Indian talents in the pool as the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma, who all were purchased for big price tags in the WPL auctions. Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur will have a point to prove as she was preferred by the Mumbai Indians, the most successful franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Pooja Vastrakar, Richa Ghosh, Renuka Singh, Yastika Bhatia and Devika Vaidya will also be the center of attraction having acquired big numbers in the auctions.

It is worth reminding that the IPL kickstarted sensationally back in 2008 when Brendon McCullum scored an unbeaten 158 for the Kolkata Knight Riders. If the WPL is set for something similar, they too will attract a chunk of the audience throughout the globe. Big-name owners like Ambani's and Adani's are set to be in attendance for the opening contest with the female stars taking to the field.

The contest will kick start at 7:30 PM at Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy with the toss taking place at 7:00 PM while there will also be an opening ceremony to mark the start of the inauguration of the tournament.