By Ravi - Feb 12, 2025 06:03 PM
The Women's Premier League 2025 is scheduled to begin on February 14. Defending champions Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will take on Gujarat Giants (GG) in the first match in Vadodara. The final will be played on March 15 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Before that, there will be 20 league matches and the eliminator. The inaugural edition in 2023 saw Harmanpreet Kaur's Mumbai Indians win the title. In 2024, the Smriti Mandhana-led RCB Women's team won the honour. In both editions, Delhi Capitals finished runners-up.
Like previous years, this year too many players are looking to make a big impact in the WPL. Here is one player from each team who can do everything right this year and move forward. Top 5 players to watch in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025
Smriti Mandhana also dominated in ODIs last year. In 23 matches, she scored 763 runs at an average of 42.38 with the help of 8 half-centuries. She is such a player who has continued her form in 2025 as well. Last month, she scored 41, 73 and 135 runs in the three-match ODI series against Ireland Women. Mandhana can make a splash in the WPL on the basis of her form. Her 2023 edition of the WPL was disappointing, in which she scored 149 runs in 8 matches at an average of 18.62. Her performance was slightly better last season, scoring 300 runs in 10 matches at an average of 30. She also scored two half-centuries.
Deepti Sharma has been appointed as the captain of UP Warriors for the WPL 2025 season. The senior all-rounder of the Indian women's cricket team has scored 385 WPL runs. She has hit three half-centuries. With the ball, she has registered 19 wickets in 17 matches across two seasons. Initially, Deepti's 2023 campaign was disappointing, scoring only 90 runs and taking 9 wickets. She improved her performance last year, scoring 295 runs and taking 10 wickets. Notably, Deepti took a hat-trick last season. She also became the first Indian to do so and the second bowler to achieve this feat in the WPL.
The 2025 WPL is a big one for Shefali Verma. She will be desperate to make her presence felt in the WPL. Scoring great runs here could put her on the selectors' radar again. Shefali has performed well in the WPL. She is the third-highest run-scorer of the tournament. She has scored 561 runs in 18 matches. Her strike rate is over 168. She has scored five half-centuries. Last season, she scored 309 runs for the Capitals. In 2023, she scored 252 runs.
Australian cricketer Ashleigh Gardner has been appointed captain of Gujarat Giants. She replaced veteran Beth Mooney. Gardner is a two-time Belinda Clark Award winner. The all-rounder also played a key role in Australia's gold medal win at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Later, she was named Player of the Tournament at the T20 World Cup to be held in South Africa in 2023. In 16 WPL matches, Gardner has scored 324 runs at an average of 21.60. During this, she has taken 17 wickets.
West Indies veteran Hayley Matthews will be a key player for Mumbai Indians, who will be trying to return to the title. This team led by Harmanpreet Kaur is quite strong, Matthews has scored 2651 runs and taken 108 wickets in WT20I. In WPL, Matthews has scored 451 runs in 19 matches in two seasons at an average of 25.05. Her strike rate is 120.58. This is one area she would like to work on. However, in bowling, she has taken 23 wickets in 19 matches at an average of just 17.95. Her economy rate is 6.66.
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