The WPL 2025 is set to take place on 14 February and will end on 15 March 2025. This is the third edition of the tournament and will feature 5 teams including the Royal Challengers Bengaluru being the defending champions of the title.
Each team will face the other one twice in a home-and-away format. The top three teams will qualify for playoffs and the team with the highest points on the table with qualify for the finals. The tournament is set to take place in 4 different cities, Lucknow, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Vadodara.
The 5 teams that will face each other for the trophy are Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Mumbai Indians, UP Warriorz and Gujrat Giants.
The inaugural season was won by Mumbai Indians while Delhi Capitals is the only team which qualified for finals in both seasons.
While captains of some teams remain the same from last season, two of them will debut as captains in the season. While a lot is at stake, this season we could witness unexpected play under the captaincy of the newly appointed ladies. So let’s take a closer look at them.
Smriti Mandhana (Royal Challengers Bengaluru)
Smriti Mandhana has captained RCB in WPL since the inaugural season. The first season was a bit challenging for them as they finished fourth out of five teams which she took as a significant learning experience.
In the next season in 2024, she bounced back with her team and led the team to victory. She also finished the tournament as the fourth-highest run scorer with 300 runs. She was named the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2024 for her outstanding performances throughout the year. This year, she will return as captain and her team will try to defend the title.
Meg Lanning (Delhi Capitals)
Meg Lanning is renowned globally for being one of the best captains with a remarkable career in the Australian Women’s cricket team. She became the captain at the age of 21 and led the team to 5 World Cup victories. She has an impressive winning record of 80% as a captain. She’s been the captain of Delhi Capitals since the first edition of WPL.
The team retained her as the captain for her impressive performance, the team has been to the finals in both seasons under her leadership. She’s scored a total of 676 WPL career runs. She also holds the record for the most centuries in international women’s cricket.
Ashleigh Gardner (Gujrat Giants)
Ashleigh is an Australian all-rounder who has been appointed captain replacing the former captain Beth Mooney. The decision was taken allegedly so Mooney could focus on her wicket-keeping and batting skills.
Gardner had been playing for the team since the first season and is currently the top-ranked all-rounder in the ICC One Day International rankings. She has appeared in 16 matches in WPL and scored 324 runs while taking 17 wickets. It will be interesting to see how she takes off as a captain for the first time in the league.
Harmanpreet Kaur (Mumbai Indians)
Harmanpreet Kaur led Mumbai Indians to the trophy in the inaugural season and has been the captain ever since. She also became the captain across all formats for the national team in 2016. She finished as the second-highest run scorer in the first edition of the league.
She has played 17 matches and scored a total of 549 runs, her personal best being 95 runs. She also hit five 50s in her WPL career. Her team under her captaincy will be eyeing the trophy this year to claim the title once again.
Deepti Sharma (UP Warriorz)
Deepti Sharma was appointed captain after former captain Alyssa Healy was ruled out of the league due to a foot injury. This will be her first league as a captain in WPL. However, she is the first Indin Bowler to secure a hat-trick in the history of the tournament.
She has also scored 385 runs in 8 innings and took 19 wickets. She was also recently selected in the ICC Women’s Team of the Year. She’s also the highest ODI wicket-taker for the national team. Her eyes will be on the title as she debuts her first season in the league as a captain.
