Sneh Rana, Poonam Yadav, Heather Knight and Lea Tahuhu are among the prominent cricketers who will be released by their respective Women’s Premier League (WPL) franchises ahead of the upcoming auction in the run-up to the third season, early 2025. The auction is probably going to be in early December.
Gujarat Giants (GG), who finished last in the five-team table in both WPL seasons so far, have decided to let go of Rana, the all-rounder who led them in the first season after captain Beth Mooney quit the tournament. an injury, as well as Tahuhu and Kathryn Bryce. They have retained India all-rounder Sayali Satghare and Vidarbha batsman Bharti Fulmali and released Mannat Kashyap, Veda Krishnamurthy, Tarannum Pathan and Lauren Cheatle.
Rana, the bowling all-rounder who has not played a white-ball game for India since December last year, and has not appeared in a T20I XI since February 2023, has had a tough time in the WPL. In 12 matches across two seasons, he has just six wickets (an average of 52.16 and an economy rate of 9.02) and 47 runs (average of 6.71). New Zealander Tahuhu, a veteran of the game, was not one of the Giants’ preferred overseas players in 2024, playing just two games during the season for one wicket at an economy rate of 7.60. Scotland captain Bryce, on the other hand, was on the field in eight matches last season and averaged 20.75 with the bat and had an economy rate of 8.66 with the ball.
England captain Knight, who had withdrawn from the 2024 season due to international duty, was released by defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru. They have released six other players and retained big names including captain Smriti Mandhana, Ellyse Perry and Sophie Devine. South African all-rounder Nadine de Klerk, who replaced Knight last season, has also been sacked. Shubha Satheesh, Disha Kasat, Indrani Roy, Simran Bahadur and Shraddha Pokarkar are the other names that have been released.
The biggest name released by Delhi Capitals (DC), the losing finalists in both WPL seasons so far, is leg-spinner Poonam, who was once a mainstay of the Indian team across all formats, but not has been playing international cricket since March 2022. Poonam also did not play any match last season in the WPL.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians have let go of Fatima Jaffer, Humaira Kazi, Priyanka Bala and England fast bowler Issy Wong. They have retained their strong core of international stars including captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Hayley Matthews, Chloe Tryon and Shabnim Ismail.
UP Warriorz (UPW), who made it to the playoffs after finishing third on the table in the first season but only finished at No. 4 in 2024, released bowling all-rounder Parshavi Chopra, uncapped Laxmi Yadav, who had been drafted on the team due to injury. replacement for India’s wicketkeeper-batsman Uma Chetry last season, uncapped medium pacer S Yashasri and England fast bowler Lauren Bell. Chetry is still part of the team. UPW had earlier traded Danni Wyatt-Hodge to RCB.
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