New Delhi: Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal said the franchise was ‘very clear’ about going with an Indian captain for the upcoming WPL season. At the ongoing mega auction, DC bolstered their squad with key signings of Laura Wolvaardt, Chinelle Henry, Sneh Rana, Lizelle Lee and young Deeya Yadav, while buying back left-arm spinner N Sree Charani.
“No, no, not at all. I think we are very clear that we would like to have an Indian as the captain. So, depending on who else we land, we already have our mind made up. But let’s see what happens, but I mean Laura will add a lot of leadership into the dressing room. But we are clear that we want to go with an Indian captain,” said Jindal in the press conference.
Getting Laura in meant that DC could look at her as the captain after Meg Lanning went to UP Warriorz, but now they could look at having India batter Jemimah Rodrigues as the skipper. Laura will also fill in as the opener alongside the explosive Shafali Verma.
“Obviously we went till what where we could go for Meg, but I think in Laura we’ve got a tremendous player who can fill in those shoes. Not only was she the highest run scorer in the recent World Cup, but she’s also someone who’s got leadership ability as well.”
“So I think she’ll be a great addition to the dressing room I think. We’re very excited about our spin attack now with Sree Charani and Sneh Rana both coming in – it’s stronger than what we had last year as well.”
“We still have some budget left to go after some more players. So I think its looking like a very good balanced team with Henry also coming in, as she can bowl with the new ball. One of the things we felt we lacked last season or in the last cycle was some explosiveness at the bottom order and she brings that.”
“So with Sutherland, Kapp, Henry and then with Charani, Sneh and then you have Shafali, and Nikki – all who can come in with the ball. We’ll have more than six bowling options and we have a very deep batting order. So it’s looking good and we’ve reached three finals. It’s time we go one step further and we have to – it’s about time,” elaborated Jindal.
He also talked in length about the growth of WPL since its inception in 2023 and how the ODI World Cup win will create more interest amongst fans for the upcoming season.
“Three years ago, all the owners took a leap of faith into the women’s game, and we’re so thrilled that we did that and for us when the bidding happened, we were very clear that this is a sport that is only going to go from strength to strength, and to see 446 million Indians watch the World Cup final – more people watched it than they watched the men’s T20 World Cup final live, it shows how far the game has come.”
“I wrote it in one of my tweets as well that the World Cup win in 2025 is the 1983 moment for women’s cricket, and I think this season the interest in the WPL is going to be like it’s never been before. The number of people who even came up to me and asked me in my office or whenever I go out, say that ‘Hey, November 27 is the women’s auction. Who you guys going to get, and are you retaining Lanning? Why didn’t you retain Lanning? So many questions, which in the last three years never happened. So it just shows the kind of interest.”
He signed off by saying a new WPL team and hosting the tournament in a home-and-away format will be ideal. “Yes, I think we would love to see the WPL in home and away format as well. This caravan format is okay, but it’s not ideal and I hope that and I’m sure that the BCCI is working on it. I think the amount of time that they get is very short and that’s why in order to fit the WPL within this window – this is the best and most ideal format.”
“But I hope we get a bigger longer window for the WPL as well going forward. I think it is imminent that either one or two new teams will come in at some point and that’s why I think this cycle is such a short cycle with only two WPLs over 14 months. So I’m pretty sure that the BCCI is planning on adding a team, and maybe with that addition, we move home in a way that would be ideal for the fans, for the game and for the growth of the WPL.”
(IANS)
