WPL | UP Warriorz squad for Women’s Premier League 2023

02/13/2023

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After Lucknow Super Giants' valiant run in their maiden season, UP Warriorz would be hoping to emulate their male counterparts by building a solid unit at the auction under the leadership of Jon Lewis. Lisa Sthalekar will mentor the team while Anju Jain has been named the assistant coach.

The inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) is all set to take place next month and the teams took the auction table in Mumbai with an aim to form a title-winning squad. A total of 409 players went under the hammer as the five franchises engaged in fierce bidding wards despite the limited purse at hand.

The Warriorz already acquired the services of the England women's head coach Jon Lewis while revealing he would be assisted by Anju Jain, who has previously worked in a coaching capacity for the Bangladesh cricket team. Ashley Noffke, former Australia all-rounder would serve as the bowling coach for the side but in perhaps the biggest signing of all, Australian great Lisa Sthalekar will be present with the side throughout the season as their mentor.

UP Warriorz kicked off their buying spree at the inaugural Women's Premier League by making English all-rounder Sophie Ecclestone the first player in the franchise's history for a whopping sum of ₹1.80 crores. The 23-year-old is currently the world's top-ranked T20I bowler with a stunning average of 15.93 alongside an economy of 5.90 and looks set to be leading the Warriorz having already proven herself as a bona fide leader with the national team. However, they immediately upped the ante even further by securing Indian star Deepti Sharma's services for ₹2.60 crores, helping materialize the hype around the 25-year-old currently ranked second in ICC's T20I all-rounder charts.

Tahlia McGrath, touted as a future Australian captain having already ascended to the role of deputy, was UP's next marquee buy for ₹1.40 crores. Proteas speedster Shabnim Ismail, again amongst the top 10 T20I bowlers in the world as per ICC, rounded off the team's action in the two marquee rounds by becoming a Warrior for ₹1 crore.

The Warriorz truly made headlines in the round for wicket-keepers by securing perhaps the biggest steal of the entire auction, recruiting Alyssa Healy for meagre ₹70 lakhs. With over 2,000 T20I runs to her name including a century and 13 half-centuries, the 32-year-old was named Australia's stand-in captain in Meg Lanning's absence last year, a few months after cementing herself as an all-time great with a knock of 170 in the World Cup final against England to secure yet another title for her side. Parshavi Chopra seems to be yet another bargain for the Warriorz at 10 lakhs, with no other team deciding to bid for the 16-year-old leg-spinner despite ending as the second-highest wicket-taker at the recently concluded U19 Women's World T20. Her teammate Shweta Sehrawat wasn't subjected to the same treatment though, as UP staved off the Capitals to secure the tournament's highest run-scorer for a sum of ₹40 lakhs.

In a surprising move late in the day, the Warriorz decided to splurge ₹1.40 crore on Devika Vaidya to be left with just ₹50 lakhs with at least two more slots to fill. That's not to say the gamble is destined to fail, given the all-rounder has impressed in her 20 white-ball appearances for India but the pressure would be on her to justify her hefty price tag. The UP Warriorz eventually became the first side to fulfil the minimum squad requirements of 15 players, eventually ending up with 10 Indians, three Australians, two English women and a Proteas in their team.