SOPHOMORE LESSONS

With the second year of WPL coming to a close, Kalyani Mangale takes a look at areas players have upskilled, where work needs to be done and more...

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AFTER 21 matches across two venues, the final of the second season of the Women's Premier League is here. Unlike the first season in 2023, which Parth Jindal, the owner of the Delhi Capitals, summarised as "a student trying to learn the entire year's syllabus in the last nine days," the franchise and even players had enough time and experience behind them.

For the first time, players were aware of the designated window for the WPL season and the work that went behind the scenes since the inaugural season became more meaningful and it was on full display this time around. Take for example Anjali Sarvani of UP Warriorz. An untimely knee injury led to the left-arm pacer missing out on India's first ever Asian Games campaign and two Tests on home soil.

But, she knew she could get fit in time for WPL. "Because of this injury, I got time to build myself and work on my fitness. Instead of thinking everything is gone. I thought, well, I have WPL and I had the perfect time to be fit for it. All I was focusing on was getting better," Sarvani said.