WPL 2023: Flop Indian XI from second week of the tournament

Anjali Sarvani, Smriti Mandhana and Sneh Rana. (Photo Source: Twitter)

The inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) has reached its business end, with a day remaining for the tournament to reach its conclusion. Two matches will be played on Tuesday, March 21, to conclude the league stage. Many players have gained something from the first-ever WPL season. Meanwhile, most of the players, especially Indians who have already proved their ability in the shortest format of the game, could not perform well in this tournament.

Most of the Indian players could not maintain consistency in the league. If they have shown some progress in a match, they haven’t done the same in their next match. Let’s identify the flop Indian XI from the second week of the tournament.

Flop Indian XI after the second week of WPL 2023

1. Smriti Mandhana (C)

Smriti Mandhana. (Photo Source: JioCinema)

Smriti Mandhana joined the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for a whopping INR 3.4 crore, the most noteworthy bid in the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) season. She was a topic of discussion after the WPL auction and now regarding her calibre in captaining a team. Mandhana has scored only 125 runs from the seven matches RCB have played so far.

Notably, the opening batter is the second-highest runscorer for India in T20 internationals, having scored 28602 runs from 112 innings. After five consecutive losses in the ongoing WPL, Mandhana and Co. registered two back-to-back victories to keep their slim chance alive. RCB are likely to enter the playoffs if they win their final league stage match against Mumbai Indians on Tuesday.

2. Devika Vaidya

Devika Vaidya. (Photo Source: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)

The UP Warriorz all-rounder has been in poor form since the beginning of the WPL season. Her highest score so far is an unbeaten 36 in the UP Warriorz’ 10-wicket win against RCB in the first week. In UP Warriorz’s last three matches, Vaidya did not play perform well, despite the side winning a match. She scored only six and one runs in two matches last week while she was being sent back for a duck in one game.

Notably, Vaidya was promoted to open the innings after a couple of matches at the start of the season after India youngster Shweta Sehrawat was unable to impress in any of the matches she played.

3. Sabbhineni Meghana

Sabbhineni Meghana. (Photo Source: Twitter)

was bought by Gujarat Giants for INR 30 lakhs at the inaugural WPL player auction. The 26-year-old who plays as a top-order batter has not proven herself in the competition. With skipper Beth Mooney being ruled out of the season, who suffered an injury during the opening match of GG-W, all eyes were on Meghana. However, she did not make a promising knock in all seven matches GUJ-W has played so far. She even got out for a duck in the match against Delhi Capitals, which GG-W lost by 10 wickets.

She played only two matches last week and dropped from the third clash. She was not included in the Sneh Rana-led side’s final league stage match. Notably, Gujarat Giants are currently standing bottom of the points table with five losses in the tournament.

4.  Dayalan Hemalatha

Dayalan Hemalatha. (Photo Source: Jio Cinema)

Gujarat Giants signed Dayalan Hemalatha for her base price of INR 30 lakh in the WPL player auction. The Tamil Nadu cricketer hasn’t been able to make an impact so far for her team. Hemalatha scored 151 runs from Gujarat Giants’ eight matches.

After a below-par performance, she managed to play a stunning knock in the Gujarat Giants’ last match of the season. She contributed 57 off 33 in the match. Notably, Sneh Rana-led side was knocked out from the WPL season after losing to UP Warriorz in their final league match.

5. Sneh Rana (GG-W)

Sneh Rana. (Photo Source: Jio Cinema)

All-rounder Sneh Rana is captaining the Gujarat Giants in the absence of Beth Mooney. When it comes to her captaincy or performance she doesn’t impress in the ongoing WPL season. With the bat, Rana has only scored 34 runs from eight games in the tournament. Notably, under her captaincy, the GUJ-W could only win two matches so far in the competition.

In the second week of the tournament, she managed to pick only three wickets. The 29-year-old now only has a total of five wickets from GUj-W’s eight matches. It seems she is having a rough time in the competition with both bat and ball.

6. Sushma Verma (wk)

Sushma Verma. (Photo Source: Twitter)

India wicket-keeper Sushma Verma was roped in by Gujarat Giants for Rs 60 lakh in the inaugural Women’s Premier League player auction. She has failed to make a mark so far in the tournament. The right-handed batter has only scored 42 runs in seven matches she has played.

Albeit, she has been good behind the stumps. Notably, Verma scored only eight runs in the final league stage match of Gujaart Giants. Since their campaign has come to an end, Verma can show up can make up their batting skills, and can make a good comeback in the next WPL match.

7. Anjali Sarvani (UP)

Anjali Sarvani. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Anjali Sarvani has been very poor so far for UP Warriorz in the cash-rich tournament. She has managed to scalp only three wickets from UP Warriorz’s seven games. This is an example of her inefficiency with the ball so far in the league. The Andhra Pradesh cricketer has bowled 18 overs so far in the tournament, conceding 150 runs.

Meanwhile, with the bat, she is standing bottom of the points table with just eight runs. However, she has to perform well in the remaining game of UP Warriorz to book a spot in the WPL playoffs. She needs to find her flaws and work according to them to make a comeback in the tournament.

8. Tanuja Kanwer GG

Tanuja Kanwer. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Tanuja Kanwer who played for Gujarat Giants picked five wickets in their eight matches of the Women’s Premier League. The Shimla-born spinner has had a difficult time in the tournament. Kanwer picked her first wicket in Gujarat Giants’ first match against Mumbai Indians.

She last picked a wicket in GUJ-W’s final match against UP Warriorz. She dismissed GUJ-W batter Devika Vaidya for just seven runs. Gujarat Giants have been knocked out from the first-ever WPL season after a poor performance throughout the season. They have only won two of their eight matches and finished at the bottom of the points table.

9. Radha Yadav

Radha Yadav. (Photo Source: Jio Cinema)

Allrounder Radha Yadhav was bought by Delhi Capitals for her base price of INR 40 lakhs in the WPL player auction. Notably, she hasn’t been able to prove herself so far in the competition despite her team’s victories in the five matches. She managed to pick only one wicket so far in the competition which shows her performance from the beginning of the tournament.

Notably, Delhi Capitals have secured their place in the WPL playoffs. In order to win the knockout matches, Delhi Capitals need their player Radha Yadav to step up her game. Otherwise, DC might remove her from their squad even if they win the playoffs.

10. Jintimani Kalita MI

Jintimani Kalita. (Photo Source: Jio Cinema)

Jintimani Kalita who represents Assam at the domestic level was roped in by Mumbai Indians. With this, the bowler became the first player from her state to be bought into the WPL. The 19-year-old did not have a season to remember, as she remained wicketless after playing seven games for MI.

Notably, she was one among 25 cricketers u-19 cricketers called up by the National Cricket Academy (NCA) for a high-performance camp for her performance at the domestic level. The young bowler has had a very rough time in the competition so far. However, the team hopes for her impressive performance in their last league stage match.

11. Renuka Singh RCB

Renuka Singh. (Photo Source: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)

Renuka Singh was bought by RCB in the player auction for INR 15 crore. She was the second-most expensive Indian bowler in the first-ever WPL. The India international cricketer was in incredible form earlier.

However, she did not perform well in the tournament, picking up only one wicket in seven matches so far. With one match remaining, RCB is hoping that the Indian will justify her potential on the field while bowling. The win in the final league stage match will help the Smriti Mandhana-led side to reach the playoffs.

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