With the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh later this year and limited places available in the Indian squad, the WPL could be the big chance for some to turn heads.
Sruthi Ravindranath
In a T20 World Cup year, players hoping for calls or recalls to India’s T20I squad will look to make an impression during the upcoming WPL. Here are some players for whom the tournament could be crucial.
S Meghana (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
While India have filled their top spots in the format, a good outing in the WPL could keep S Meghana in the fray as a back-up to Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana. Meghana last played for India in the 2022 Women’s Asia Cup where she opened alongside Shafali with Mandhana batting down the order. He was part of Gujarat Giants last year where he played at No.3 and had an average season, with his highest score being 31 off 32 balls against Royal Challengers Bangalore. She was bought at her base price of INR 30 lakh by RCB in the 2024 auction, but it remains to be seen whether she will get a chance to open with Mandhana given that the franchise also has Sophie Devine, who opened last season.
With spin-bowling allrounders likely to be in demand at the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh, experienced Sneh Rana, an Indian regular in the other formats, will look to showcase her skills in the WPL. Last season, Rana captained the Giants after an injury to Beth Mooney and endured a rough patch in her team’s poor season. He last played for India in T20Is at the World Cup in South Africa in early 2023, where he finished with 34 runs and six wickets in eight games. India already have experienced all-rounder Deepti Sharma along with youngsters Amanjot Kaur and Shreyanka Patil – who all featured in the recent T20I series – but a strong WPL season could help Rana stay in contention.
Richa Ghosh’s excellent performances in the recent domestic season make her the first-choice wrestler in the national team for now, which means Bhatia needs to have another season like the last to compete for a spot.
He had a good season with the bat in the last WPL, where he scored three 40+ scores in Mumbai’s title-winning campaign. A more consistent run this season – with some higher scores – could tip the scales in her favor. He underperformed in the last T20I series he played for India, against Bangladesh in 2023, but is a strong alternative who can hit big and score quickly, as he has shown over the years.
India need finishers in their white ball teams. Navgire showed a lot of promise with her exploits in domestic cricket, but in the last WPL, she couldn’t make it, except in the Eliminator between UP Warriorz and Mumbai Indians, where she showed what she was capable of, hitting four fours and threes. sixes in her 43 off 27 balls. But the big hit also had a poor domestic season where she made just 88 runs in six matches for Maharashtra in the senior women’s T20 trophy.
Warriorz coach Jon Lewis told ESPNcricinfo in December that Navgire “worked really hard on her fitness during the off-season so she can be quicker between the wickets”. It might be hard for the selectors to pass her up if she brings her best game along with some consistency to the WPL this season.
Vrinda Dinesh is only 22 years old, she is yet to play international cricket but she was all talk ahead of WPL 2024. The top batsman had teams fighting over her in the auction and was finally snapped up by Warriorz for INR 1.3 crore .
Karnataka’s Vrinda starred in the Senior Women’s One-Day Trophy 2022-23, finishing as the third highest scorer in the tournament – 477 from 11 innings at 47.70 – after which she impressed in the final of the emerging ACC tournament against Bangladesh in Last year June, where he caught the attention of some scouts.
He was also included in the India A squad for the series against England in December. In the 2023-24 Senior Women’s T20 Trophy, she scored 211 runs at 154.01. India do have their top order in the format but Vrinda could be in contention if they repeat what Shreyanka Patil and Saika Ishaque did last season.
Sruthi Ravindranath is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo