An insight into the Women's Premier League
The inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League begins with a clash between Mumbai and Gujarat on the 4th of March 2023. It will conclude on the 26th of the same month when the two best teams lock horns for the trophy.
History of the Women's Premier League
The Indian women's cricket team went unnoticed for many years despite their impressive performances. However, their fantastic run as runners-up in the 2017 ODI World Cup placed them firmly on the map. With the rapid growth of T20 cricket combined with the soaring popularity of the women's game, it was only a matter of time before women's T20 leagues sprouted across the globe.
Indian players such as Smriti Mandhana, Jemima Rodrigues, and Shafali Verma have played in the Women’s Big Bash League and the famous 'The Hundred' short-format cricket tournament. So it was only a matter of time until a full-fledged women's version of the Indian Premier League was launched.
Women's Premier League venues
There will be 22 matches in the first edition — 11 each at Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil Stadium based in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, respectively.
Women's Premier League schedule
Given below is the match schedule:
Top Women's Premier League Fantasy Players to watch
The WPL has five teams, and 88 players were picked at the auctions. We take a look at some of our top fantasy team picks:
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Ashleigh Gardner
Ashleigh has become a mainstay of the Australian women's team, primed to win its sixth T20 World Cup this year. She has a strike rate of 131.4 in international T20 matches, averaging 27.9. She could become a valuable asset to your fantasy team with a bowling strike rate of 18.7 deliveries per wicket. Ashleigh also won the 'Player of the Series award in the T20 series against India held last year in the subcontinent. This makes her a key player in any T20 league fantasy team.
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Smriti Mandhana
Smriti was selected to be a part of the Bangalore team. She fetched a price of Rs. 3.4 crore, which was also the highest at the auction. The left-handed batter has been named captain of the franchise. She has played 114 T20Is and has an explosive strike rate of 123.3. Smriti has an array of shots in her arsenal. She also bats deep, which could allow the other striker to go for big shots.
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Deepti Sharma
Deepti's ICC rankings best describe her performances. She's ranked #4 worldwide for bowling in women's T20Is and is the #2 all-rounder globally. Her bowling strike rate of 18.8 with an economy of 6.13 makes her highly lethal. Additionally, a T20I batting average of 25.6 makes her sound in the middle order, especially during a batting collapse.
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Beth Mooney
While Alyssa Healy is considered the more prolific striker, her opening partner Beth Mooney must be noticed. Beth had two 80+ scores in the opening two games of the five-match series against India and landed a player of the match award. Her T20I strike rate of 123.7 and average of 39 make her a perfect fit for this version of the game.
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Sophie Ecclestone
Sophie is one of the best spin bowlers in the world. She fetched 1.8 crores at the player auction. She has picked 93 wickets in just 67 bowled innings, with a strike rate of 16. If her economy rate of 5.81 wasn't enough, her average of nearly 20 at a strike rate of 119 makes her a handy pick. The Lucknow team has picked her — the same team that purchased Deepti. This makes them one of the clear favourites to land the title.
Women's Premier League (WPL) Fantasy Team Tips
Dream11 has recently introduced a different format to its fantasy cricket contests. Contestants can now select up to 10 players from one team and more than four all-rounders. Due to these rule changes, you can choose more all-rounders to guarantee safe returns. The Brabourne and DY Patil pitches were also used during the Indian T20 League in 2022. This could give us an idea of who would benefit from the shorter boundaries on one side, the speed of the pitch, etc. Please do plenty of research to stand a chance of winning big with this game.
