New Delhi [India], November 3 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer Veda Krishnamurthy has backed Deepti Sharma to take over as UP Warriorz captain for the TATA WPL 2027 season, suggesting the franchise to consider an Indian player for the leadership role. With Deepti having been part of UP Warriorz for the last four years, Veda believes the all-rounder is ready to lead the side, with former Australia captain Meg Lanning providing guidance and support.
Speaking on JioStar’s ‘Match Centre Live Auction Special’, the JioStar expert Veda also highlighted how an Indian captain could give the franchise greater flexibility in finalising its overseas combination.
UP Warriorz entered the WPL 2027 Auction with the biggest purse and strengthened their squad with the additions of Sophie Molineux, Grace Harris, Sneh Rana, Sushma Verma and Kathryn Bryce, among others.
Speaking on JioStar’s ‘Match Centre Live Auction Special’, JioStar experts Abhinav Mukund, Veda Krishnamurthy and Anjum Chopra discussed the franchise’s captaincy options, overseas combination and key acquisitions.
Veda believes having an Indian captain could help UP Warriorz build a more balanced playing XI without being restricted by the need to accommodate an overseas captain.
“I am a big fan of having an Indian player as captain. That solves a lot of problems when you talk about the overseas combination. When you have Deepti Sharma, who has been there for four years, I honestly feel it is time for UP Warriorz to think in that direction. They can say that Deepti is the captain,” she said, as per a press release from JioStar.
“You always have Meg Lanning there, who can probably guide her. It doesn’t have to be Meg Lanning as captain. It can be Deepti Sharma as captain, with Meg Lanning helping her along. That probably solves a lot of problems because then you can look at the best possible options you would want in your playing XI. If you feel that Meg Lanning might not feature, considering that she has not been playing international cricket of late and has only been playing franchise leagues, it makes things a lot easier. If you have an overseas player the captain, you are bound to play them in the XI. That unsettles things a little bit if they are not in form,” Veda told JioStar, as per a press release.
Meanwhile, Abhinav Mukund felt UP Warriorz had secured excellent value by signing Grace Harris at her base price.
“I actually feel for someone like Grace Harris because, if you look at every other team in the league, they’ve got their four overseas players nailed down along with the associates, if required. And unfortunately for Grace Harris, despite having a great season, she finds herself out of a championship-winning side because a better player, for lack of a better word, Ellyse Perry is back. So, when she’s back, you’ve got to free up a spot so that there is another skill set that’s available. So, unfortunate for her because she’s gone at base price and I don’t think that’s the value for someone like Grace Harris. In fact, if another team had decent money, even Molineux would have gone for much more. Grace Harris is a great pick and she will be back to batting in the middle order for UP Warriorz,” Abhinav said.
Anjum Chopra, meanwhile, highlighted the selection challenge facing UP Warriorz following the additions of Sophie Molienux and Grace Harris. With Phoebe Litchfield, Meg Lanning and Sophie Ecclestone also in the squad, the franchise will have to make important decisions to finalise its four overseas players.
“With Phoebe Litchfield and Meg Lanning both there, Sophie Ecclestone is another player who walks straight into the playing XI. Those three are automatic picks. The challenge for UP Warriorz was how to fit everyone in because they wanted to play Deandra Dottin. When she couldn’t do well, they were going helter-skelter trying to find that balance. Now, they have Sophie Molineux and Grace Harris, who has played for UP Warriorz earlier as well, when Alyssa Healy was there. But how will you combine Sophie Ecclestone and Sophie Molineux? If you look at Mumbai Indians, they don’t change their core. They did everything they could to have Amelia Kerr back, to the extent that Harmanpreet was ready to take a pay cut. But if you look at UP Warriorz, they are unsure about what combination will actually work for them because imagine Meg Lanning walking out for the toss and Sophie Molineux not being in the playing XI. That would be very strange,” Anjum told JioStar, as per a press release.
On the acquisition of Sneh Rana, who will represent her fourth franchise in five TATA WPL seasons, Anjum underlined the value of the experienced all-rounder and her ability to make a difference.
“Sneh Rana is vastly experienced now. She has come a long way, and UP Warriorz have said that they definitely need an experienced bowler to accompany Sophie Ecclestone. At the end of the day, a player like Sneh Rana knows she is not the top draw because all the big bucks go to those kinds of players. But she is one of those players who can make a difference. Even last season, when she was playing for Delhi Capitals, and before that, when she was playing for RCB, she did her job. I feel she still has so much time left to play international cricket, and she is of great value. It’s just that sometimes we put a stamp on certain players and say they are not suited for T20 cricket, or that they are suited for it, but then they are not able to deliver. Sneh Rana, however, delivers on most occasions,” Anjum said, as per a press release from JioStar. (ANI)
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