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Indian newbies to watch out for in WPL 2024

After a successful inaugural edition last year, the WPL 2024 is all set to entertain cricket fans. Mumbai Indians (MI) won the trophy last year after beating Delhi Capitals (DC) by 7 wickets in the final at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

Last year, the WPL threw up several young stars. Kashvee Gautam and Kanika Ahuja had the potential to do well, but to their dismay, they got ruled out of the tournament due to injuries. 

All-rounders who could set the WPL 2024 alight   

Kashvee became the most expensive uncapped player after being bought for INR 2 crore. However, there are plenty of other Indian youngsters to look forward to in the upcoming season.

Fresh youngsters who could do wonders in WPL 2024

Shreyanka Patil

Shreyanka Patil is amongst the brightest talents India have in the women’s game. In the last 11 months, she has taken giant strides in her career. Last year in the WPL, she picked up 6 wickets and finished as the leading wicket-taker for the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Moreover, the 21-year-old impressed everyone with her fearless stroke-making in the death overs. Shreyanka has not looked back since then. She played for the India Emerging Women’s team in the Asia Cup after which she became the top wicket-taker in the Women’s Caribbean Premier League while representing Guyana Amazon Warriors.

WPL 2024
Photo by Icon Sport

Shreyanka’s joy doubled after she made her debut for India in the T20I series against England. In the 3rd T20I, she picked up 3 wickets and won the Player of the Match award. Later, she also went on to make her ODI debut against Australia.

Saika Ishaque

Saika Ishaque played a crucial role in MI’s title-winning campaign last season. She was arguably one of the standout performers for her team as she finished as their joint second-highest wicket-taker along with pacer Issy Wong and leg-spinner Amelia Kerr.

The left-arm spinner accounted for 15 scalps from 10 matches at an economy rate of 7. Saika got her best figures of 3.1-1-11-4 against the Gujarat Giants where she got the prized wickets of Georgia Wareham and Annabel Sutherland.

Last year in December, she made her debut for India in the T20Is against England at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. In the third T20I, she was impressive after picking up 3 wickets for 22 runs, although she did not win the Player of the Match award.

Five wicketkeepers to watch out for in IPL 2024 

Parshavi Chopra

Parshavi Chopra is a promising young talent in Indian cricket. Back in 2023 when India won the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, she played a crucial role in her team winning the trophy. In 6 matches, she picked up 11 wickets at a stupendous economy rate of 3.66.

In the match against Sri Lanka, she finished with figures of 4-1-5-4 and backed it up by winning the Player of the Match award against New Zealand in the semi-final.

In WPL 2023 while playing for UP Warriorz, led by Alyssa Healy, she picked up 3 wickets from 4 matches at an economy rate of 8.16. She also played for India A in the Women’s Emerging Asia Cup.

Titas Sadhu

Titas Sadhu rose to fame after she won the Player of the Match award in the final of the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa. The speedster ripped apart England with figures of 4-0-6-2 as India won the match by 7 wickets after chasing down 69 with 36 balls to spare.

In the 2023 WPL, Sadhu was a part of the Delhi Capitals, but she did not play a single match. In the upcoming season, it would not be a surprise if she ends up playing all matches for the Capitals, led by the evergreen Meg Lanning.

Sadhu has already played 7 T20Is for India and has taken 8 wickets at an economy rate of 5.23. In one of the matches against Australia, she had figures of 4-0-17-4 after she got the wickets of Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ash Gardner, and Annabel Sutherland.

Vrinda Dinesh

UP Warriorz shelled out INR 1.3 crore in the auction that took place last year. Having impressed while playing for Karnataka in the domestic circuit, the 22-year-old batter is not set to play alongside the likes of Healy, Chamari Athapaththu, Grace Harris, and Danni Wyatt.

In the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy, she scored 211 runs at an average of 35.17 and a strike-rate of 154.01. She followed it up by racking up 348 runs in the Women’s Senior One Day Trophy.

Last year, she played handy knocks against Bangladesh A in the Women’s Emerging Asia Cup and against England A in the T20I series. Inspired by Virat Kohli and Meg Lanning, it remains to be seen if Vrinda can stand out in the WPL.

Shweta Sehrawat

Shweta Sehrawat hogged the limelight after she finished as the top run-scorer in the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup last year. In 7 matches, she scored 297 runs at an average of 99 with 3 half-centuries and a top score of 92 not out to her name.

In the inaugural edition of the WPL, Sehrawat did not have the best of outings. That she was shuffled way too much in the batting order did not help her. In 7 matches, she scored only 34 runs at an average of 6.80 and a strike-rate of 85.

Given the talent that she has, the Warriors should not lose faith in the 19-year-old Shweta, who has every chance of shining this season.

Shubha Satheesh

Back in December 2023, Shubha Satheesh hit the second fastest Test half-century in India’s match against England at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai. The southpaw raced her way to scoring a 49-ball fifty and made 69 runs off 76 balls.

Satheesh has not played any international cricket since dislocating her finger in the same match. She will be playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the WPL. Playing alongside the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Ellyse Perry, Renuka Singh and Sophie Devine should help her grow as a cricketer.

RohitRohit

Rohit is an experienced cricket writer based in India

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