"They Can Play Horses For Courses": Ex-India Batter Backs Smriti Mandhana's RCB Ahead Of WPL 2024
The second edition of the WPL will kick-start from February 23 with Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals squaring off against each other in the opening clash in Bengaluru.
The second edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) is just around the corner and the excitement among the fans is increasing with every passing day. The first edition of this T20 league turned out to be a huge milestone in women's cricket as it encouraged many girls to pursue the sport all over the world. Years of hard work has been put in to make WPL a reality, especially in a country which is dominated by men's cricket. The long wait finally came to an end in 2023 with the first season taking place in Mumbai.
Talking about the success of the first edition and the response of the fans, former India batter Anjum Chopra, who is also a WPL expert with Sports18 and JioCinema, stated that she was totally overwhelmed with the way the previous season was received by the audience.
"I think the first edition was very nicely received, appreciated, especially in Mumbai and all those people who follow cricket on the app, television, it was very nicely absorbed. The fact that people follow women's cricket, the crowd coming in. So, in totality, no one knew that how successful the product will come out to be at the beginning but the towards, we all got our answers," Anjum Chopra told NDTV.
The first season was entirely hosted in Mumbai. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led Mumbai Indians bagged the inaugural title after defeating Delhi Capitals in the summit clash by seven wickets.
Anjum stated that the Mumbai Indians will once again start as the favourites but also named Smriti Mandhana's Royal Challengers Bangalore as one of top contenders.
"Mumbai Indians will clearly start as the favourites for the simple reason that they are the defending champions. They know how to win matches. In totality, as a franchise, the kind of management and the king of players they bought. Talking about the squad, Delhi also did not change anything. I will put in RCB in midst of things for the season 2. On paper, they are a very balanced squad and they will aim to get the performances right this time. They are definitely the one to look out for in this season," said Anjum.
RCB had a horrendous campaign in WPL 2023 as they registered only two victories out of eight matches and failed to reach the playoffs. As the upcoming season will be co-hosted by Bengaluru and Delhi, Anjum feels it will be an advantage for RCB to play in front of their home crowd.
"I think it will be advantage for them in two ways. One is that the Bangalore wickets are very good and their team was not able to adapt to different surfaces in Mumbai. Now, they are from Bangalore so the biggest for them will be the fan base. Apart from this, their team also slightly more balanced than the last season," she said.
"They have taken Simran Bahadur, Nadine de Klerk, so their team looks balanced. They can play horses for courses. They don't need to rely one two-three players. They can easily rely on their Indian talent as well,: she added.
WPL will be broadcasted for free on JioCinema, who has also introduced commentary in vernacular languages and different camera angles, in order to make match-viewing a different experience for the fans.
"Fans are always looking for newer experiences and as cricket is widely covered, so the moment something new gets added, it attracts the audience. About the languages, there are many people who are accustomed of listening the commentary in English. As I can understand Hindi, English, and Punjabi, so I am always curious about listening to commentary in Punjabi as well. These things have brought the sport closer and given the fans an option to watch the match in different languages," said Anjum.
The second edition of the WPL will kick-start from February 23 with Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals squaring off against each other in the opening clash in Bengaluru.
Women's Royal Challengers Bangalore
Women's Mumbai Indians
Women's Delhi Capitals