Deepti Sharma was confirmed as the captain of Women’s Premier League side UP Warriorz ahead of the 2025 season. With Australian superstar Alyssa Healy ruled out of the third season of WPL, the Indian allrounder, who hails from Agra in UP, will get the chance to lead out the WPL side at their home venue in Lucknow. Deepti’s promotion means three out of the five WPL franchises will have Indian skippers, as she joins Harmanpreet Kaur (MI) and Smriti Mandhana (RCB).
Earlier, the Warriorz named West Indies allrounder Cinelle Henry as the replacement for Healy. The West Indies seamer who can bat high in the order has so far played 62 T20Is and has 473 runs and 22 wickets against her name in T20Is.
Warriorz will finally get to play in their home venue in Lucknow in the WPL with the Ekana Cricket Stadium named as one of the four venues. UPW will play the Gujarat Giants (March 3), Mumbai Indians (March 6) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (March 8) in their backyard.
After a tough opening season, Deepti had a fine season in 2024 from a personal perspective. Apart from being the first Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in the WPL, against the Delhi Capitals. She went on to be named the most valuable player of the tournament for her return of 295 runs at a strike rate of 136.57 and 10 wickets. Overall, she has played 17 games for the UP Warriorz, scoring 385 runs in 16 innings, with three half-centuries to her name, along with a highest score of 88 not out.
For India, Deepti has been a bowling mainstay. The 27-year-old has played 124 T20Is, scoring 1086 runs from 79 innings, and has picked up 138 wickets, and is the highest wicket-taker in T20Is for the Indian women’s team. Deepti, who plays for Bengal in the domestic circuit but is from UP, said in a statement, “I am delighted and honoured to be named captain of the UP Warriorz, which is a team from my home state. The UP Warriorz has a fantastic squad, and we are confident that we will entertain our fans with the Warriorz brand of cricket, at the WPL this season as well. We can’t wait to play in Lucknow in front of our home fans, and hope to inspire the next generation of women athletes.”
The UP Warriorz open their WPL Season 3 campaign against the Gujarat Giants on February 16 in Vadodara.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
