“I Didn’t Like It”: Former Indian Captain Disappointed With Lack Of Indian Captains In WPL 2023

Former India skipper Anjum Chopra is a bit disappointed that most franchises have chosen foreign players in leadership roles in the inaugural WPL, saying capable Indian players should have been given the responsibility. The Women’s Premier League gets underway with a clash between Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians in the opening match at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy on Saturday. He said, “I didn’t like that most of the teams have chosen foreign players as captains because it is an Indian league and will be played in Indian conditions, so Indian players should have been captains if they had the potential.”

Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore picked Indian captains in the form of Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana respectively, while the other teams were led by Australian players – Meg Lanning (Delhi Capitals), Beth Mooney (Gujarat Giants) and Alyssa Healy (UP Warriors). Gone. roles.

Chopra said in a virtual interaction, “I felt that Deepti Sharma should have been made the captain because she captained in the last Women’s T20 Challenge.”

Chopra, however, agreed that six-time T20 World Cup winners Australia have more experienced players than India.

“The Australian players are world champions and have experience leading teams back home.

“I totally agree with their (Australian players) experience (at the international level), and that’s why Jemimah Rodrigues can’t captain ahead of Meg Lanning in the same team (Delhi Capitals). If I look at the bigger picture, Indian players don’t have the captaincy ability like Australian players.” The 45-year-old cricketer-turned-commentator believes that the performance of new domestic players will be a key factor as the foreign players are already established players.

“The challenge is always going to be there for the Indian players because you are playing a franchise tournament at home.

“It’s a professional sport, you’re under contract for a certain amount of money. Everything is relatively new, the more players play, the more they learn to adapt.” The contribution will be significant.” Chopra said it would be a good opportunity for domestic players to make a statement by rubbing shoulders with the stalwarts of the game.

“…the bigger picture I see is that of an Under-19 player who comes straight from winning the Under-19 World Cup and enters franchise cricket where you have to rub shoulders with people like Meg. Will get a chance to shake shoulders.” Lanning, Beth Mooney, Harmanpreet Kaur.

“For them, it is such a big deal that we have to see how the Indian domestic players perform, we know the overseas players, but we don’t know how the Indian domestic players will do.” Chopra feels that WPL will prove to be a game changer for Indian women’s cricket.

“It has been a long journey but finally to see that the league is happening was a good and different feeling.

“It’s not about beating Australia, it’s about getting better as individuals first, then we can come together in a team environment.

“Australia, England and New Zealand are the teams that have been challenging Indian cricket over the years, so a tournament like this will definitely help,” he added.

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