UP WARRIORZ WOMEN (UP-W)
Coaching Staff
Head Coach - Jon Lewis
Assistant Coach - Anju Jain
Bowling Coach - Ashley Noffke
Mentor - Lisa Sthalekar
Captain - Alyssa Healy
Vice Captain - Deepti Sharma
SQUAD with Auction Price
Players - Amount (in Lakhs)
Sophie Ecclestone - 180
Deepti Sharma - 260
Tahlia McGrath - 140
Shabnim Ismail - 100
Alyssa Healy - 70
Anjali Sarvani - 55
Rajeshwari Gayakwad - 40
Parshavi Chopra - 10
Shweta Shehrawat - 40
S Yashasri - 10
Kiran Navgire - 30
Grace Harris - 75
Devika Vaidya - 140
Lauren Bell - 30
Laxmi Yadav - 10
Simran Sheikh - 10
UP Warriorz - one of the 2 new franchises in the League started very well in the auction with picking 2 top class spinners Sophie Ecclestone & Deepti Sharma. They also picked the fastest Pacer in Women's Cricket Shabnim Ismail & Australian opener Alyssa Healy. Tahlia McGrath was probably their best buy and the team would hope for a good season from her.
But, can these top quality bowling attack and batters Healy & McGrath carry the team to the inaugural trophy of the Women's Premier League?
Let's have a look at their squad Player by Player:
1. Alyssa Healy - RHB, RAM
Recent Form - 18, 25, 54*, 37, 55, 62, 30*, 1, 25
The Australian attacking top order wicket keeper batter will lead UP Warriorz in the inaugural season of the WPL.
She captained Australia in absence of Meg Lanning & brings great experience to the team. She averages 23 in T20I overall & has an average of 23 in Indian conditions. She is generally an inconsistent batter but is coming of a great form from the World Cup where she scored 189 runs with the average of 47.25 in 5 innings.
2. Tahlia McGrath - RHB, RAM
Recent Form - 1r 0w, 0w, 57, 8r 0w, 56r 1w, 2r 0w, 14r 0w, 14r 0w
Another familiar face from Australia. Tahlia is a proper all rounder who bats freely with a massive strike rate & bowls in middle & death overs. She holds rank 1 in the ICC T20I batter rankings. Tahlia is batting in the lower middle order in the Australian set up nowadays but will surely have to take responsibility of no. 3/4 for UP Warriorz. She possess a mammoth average of 61.5 in T20Is.
3. Shabnim Ismail - LHB, RAF
Recent Form - 2w, 3w, 1w, 0w, 1w, 1w, 0w, 2w, 0w, 0w
The fastest bowler in Women's cricket universe Shabnim Ismail is very consistent with her line & length. She doesn't let batters score of her balls easily & has bowled most number of maiden overs (21) in women's T20I. She is lethal with the new ball & quite handy in death overs too.
4. Lauren Bell - RHB, RAM
Recent Form - 1w, 1w, 1w, 0w, 3w, 4w, 2w, 3w, 4w
Another impressive new ball bowler. She swings the ball both in & out and troubles top order batters. She looks to be a backup for Shabnim Ismail in this squad.
5. Grace Harris - RHB, RAO
Recent Form - 10, 7, 4*, 2w, 14, 0, 4, 1w
A huge hitting powerful Australian batter bats lower down the order for Australia. She is going to be a great asset for the Warriorz as they lack some experience in middle order batting. She can even bowl handy offspin but Warriorz won't need that from her.
6. Sophie Ecclestone - RHB, LAO
Recent Form - 3w, 1w, 11r 1w, 3w, 3w, 3w, 0w, 5r 2w, 2w
The top rank seeded bowler in the ICC T20I rankings, Sophie bowls tight wicket to wicket left arm spin. She is wicket taking bowler & generally bowls in middle & death overs.
She will form a horrible tandem with Deepti in death overs. Also, her batting skill is very under-rated. She is good hitter of the ball & should rightly be called a bowling all rounder.
7. Deepti Sharma - RHB, RAO
Recent Form - 20r 1w, 0r 0w, 7r 1w, 3w, 1w, 1w, 19r 0w, 16r 1w, 3w
The magician Deepti Sharma is known for deceiving batters with her off spin. She holds 3rd rank in ICC T20I Rankings. She has improved her power game with the bat as well & should provide balance to the team. She bowls in death overs for India & should be doing the same here for Warriorz.
8. Devika Vaidya - LHB, Legbreak
Recent Form - 0w, 2w, 0w, 0w, 0w, 9r 2w, 11r 1w
The experienced leg spin all rounder made her comeback to the Indian team after some years. She is now batting at no. 5/6 for India & bowls handy leg spin. She hasn't been among wickets consistently but will add a variety to the incredible spin duo of Deepti & Sophie.
9. Rajeshwari Gayakwad - RHB, LAO
Recent Form - 0w, 0w, 0w, 0w, 1w, 1w, 1w, 1w, 1w
An experienced Indian left arm spinner. She is a wicket taking bowler who troubles batters with her turn. She makes this spin heavy Warriorz team more horrible for opposition batters. But, she hasn't been in good form since last 5 matches.
10. Anjali Sarvani - LHB, LAM
Recent Form - 1w, 0w, 1w, 0w, 2w, 0w, 0w, 0w, 2w
An emerging Indian left arm medium pacer. She made her debut in the Ind-Aus T20I series in December last year. She bowled pretty well & got big wickets of Mooney & McGrath. She troubles batters with her angling deliveries from over the wicket. She will get to learn too much bowling with Ismail with the new ball.
11. Shweta Shehrawat - RHB, RAO
Recent Form - 5, 62*, 13, 21, 31*, 74*, 92*, 11, 7
The new superstar in making for India. Her gap finding skills alongwith power hitting capabilities in the U19 World Cup impressed the viewers. She was the captain of India U19 team before Shafali was included in the squad. She was the highest run scorer in the world cup scoring 297 runs with a gigantic average of 99 in 7 innings. And this is the beauty of WPL that she will be opening with Australian experienced batter Alyssa Healy.
12. Parshavi Chopra - RHB, Legbreak
Recent Form - 2w, 3w, 4w, 0w, 1w, 1w, 0w, 2w, 2w, 0w
Another rising star from India U19 World Cup squad. She was one of the top contributors of the World Cup winning team India. She was the 2nd highest wicket taker in the competition with 11 wickets in 6 innings.
13. Simran Sheikh - RHB
Recent Form - 32, 4, 18, 4, 12, 34, 6, 10, 30
Mumbai based decent middle order batter. She has played alongwith Navgire in India C. Warriorz will need some partnerships from both of them in the middle order throughout the tournament.
14. Laxmi Yadav - RHB, WK
Recent Form - 13*, 24, 55*, 1, 2
A middle order wicket keeping batter who represents Delhi in domestic circle. She is the wicket keeping backup for the team.
15. Kiran Navgire - RHB
Recent Form - 7, 9, 10, 0, 10*, 0, 7, 14
Kiran is middle/lower middle order batter from Nagaland. She is known for big powerful hits in the domestic competitions. She made her debut for India last year but was surprisingly dropped after some matches only. Kiran will have to take great responsibility for the Warriorz in the middle order.
16. S Yashasri - RHB, RAM
Recent Form - 0w, 3w, 1w, 2w, 2w, 37r 3w, 11r 1w, 0r 0w, 19r 1w, 13r 0w
A good pace bowling all rounder from India U19 squad. She was called in as a replacement for injured Hurley Gala in the U19 World Cup. She picked 3 wickets in 4 innings in the tournament.
STRENGTH
1. Depth, Quality & Variety in Spin Attack
The Warriorz have 2 top World class spinners in the name of Off Break Deepti Sharma & Left Arm Spinner Sophie Ecclestone. Both of them give nightmares to the opposition batters. Also, They both can bowl in death overs. They will be supported by leggie Devika Vaidya & experienced Left Arm Spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad who has been terrible threat for overseas batters since long.
They too have smart young spinner Parshavi Chopra as a back up option. These 5 spinners make this team a frightening one for the opponents. Specially, Deepti & Ecclestone who have utility in crunch situations.
2. Impressive New Ball & Death Overs Bowling with Flexibility
The Warriorz death over bowling looks lethal with specialists Deepti & Ecclestone. Even Ismail can add on an over or 2 in the death at her sheer pace. However, they have this luxury to bowl Ismail with the new ball & pick up initial wickets. Even if she doesn't pick up initial wickets & bowl with good economy rate which she generally does, teams will have to accelerate against Sophie & Deepti which might lead to collapses. As far as the 2nd new ball bowler is concern, they have Left Arm Pacer Anjali Sarvani who can trouble batters with her out swingers. They also have a quality back up new ball bowler Lauren Bell who can be brought in for Anjali adjusting overseas spots. However, Rajeshwari & Devika will have to contribute with some tight bowling in middle overs. Also, Deepti can be used in Powerplay against left handed openers. This variety, flexibility & quality makes them the best bowling side in the competition.
WEAKNESS
1. In-experienced Middle Order Batting
The Warriorz batting order will be led by Captain Healy & her young partner Shweta Shehrawat. Shweta is undoubtedly a prolific batter but, yet to be tested on such big stage. As soon as we move to next positions, there is going to be a big chaos for who bats where?
They have the world's best batter Tahlia McGrath who can bat at any position against any opposition. But, she can bat only once throughout the innings. Assuming she bats at 3, no. 4, 5, & 6 will have to be taken up by Kiran Navgire, Simran Sheikh & Devika Vaidya or even Deepti Sharma.
They do have a quality middle order batter in the name of Grace Harris but bringing her in means one of Ismail, McGrath & Ecclestone to miss out which doesn't seem likely & they'll have to play an inexperienced middle order.
2. Lack of Proper All Rounders
The Warriorz have lots of bowlers who can bat, but no proper batting all rounders except Tahlia McGrath. On paper, their batting looks quite deep with Sophie Ecclestone & Anjali Sarvani coming at 8 & 9. But, practically they do have a long tail. This lack of All Rounders is going to cause them some serious headache throughout the season.
PROBABLE XI
Alyssa Healy ✈️
Shweta Shehrawat
Tahlia McGrath ✈️
Simran Sheikh
Kiran Navgire
Devika Vaidya
Deepti Sharma
Sophie Ecclestone ✈️
Anjali Sarvani
Shabnim Ismail ✈️
Rajeshwari Gayakwad
EXPECTATIONS
UP Warriorz have all bases covered in their bowling department. They have top class skilled spinners with great flexibility in their utility. They also have the fastest and one of the pacer to be supported by decent seemers. They have arguably the best bowling attack among all 5 teams. But, their batting is shows contrasting colours. They lack experience & proper depth in their batting which will get exposed against their opponents. But, if the young batters absorb to the conditions & come out well, Warriorz could be a team to watch out for.