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Australia opener Alyssa Healy on Wednesday was named as the captain of the UP Warriorz team for the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), starting March 4.
Healy is one of the six overseas players picked by the Warriorz and was named as the captain ahead of Indian off-spin all-rounder Deepti Sharma, who was later announced the vice-captain of the side.
The other five overseas players in the Warriorz squad are England’s Sophie Ecclestone, Australia’s Tahlia McGrath, South Africa’s Shabnim Ismail, Australia’s Grace Harris and England’s Lauren Bell.
Some of the notable Indian names in the squad apart from Deepti are Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Devika Vaidya, Anjali Sarvani and Kiran Navgire.
“I am delighted to have the chance to captain the UP Warriorz in the inaugural edition of the historic WPL that will be played in Mumbai,” said Healy in an official statement issued by the franchise.
“The WPL is a tournament we have all been keenly waiting on, and the UP Warriorz have a fantastic squad, waiting to make a splash once things get going. We have a good mix of experience and youth along with ability and look forward to putting on a show for our fans. We are here to win and be ruthless in our brand of cricket,” she added.
32-year-old Healy is one of the most experienced cricketers of the Australian women’s team. She has won five T20 World Cups for Australia – 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2020 – and also won the ODI World Cup in New Zealand last year.
From her 140 T20Is, Healy has scored 2471 runs, averaging 24.46 at a strike rate of 127.30 with one hundred and 14 half-centuries. Healy also holds the record for the most runs scored in an inning in Women’s T20Is with an unbeaten 148 off 61 balls against Sri Lanka in 2019.
Recently, Healy also led the Australian side during their 5-match T20I series against India last year in the absence of regular captain Meg Lanning, who had taken a break from the game. In the WBBL, she has also captained the Sydney Sixers team.
One of the most memorable knocks of Healy came in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final in 2020 against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), where she smashed a brilliant 75 off 39 balls in front of a record-breaking crowd of 86,174 people. For this outstanding knock, Healy was awarded the Player of the Match.
“Alyssa is a giant of the game and has an immense amount of experience at the highest level, and also has the winning habit which we want in our team,” Rajesh Sharma, managing director of Capri Globals, who own Warriorz, said. “We hope that the UP Warriorz can make significant strides in this important journey under the leadership of Alyssa Healy, and go on to be a source of joy and inspiration for the women of UP.”
The coaching staff of the Warriorz comprises former England cricketer Jon Lewis as the head coach, former India wicket-keeper Anju Jain as the assistant coach, former Australian cricketer Ashley Noffke as the bowling coach and Australia’s four-time World Cup winner Lisa Sthalekar as the team mentor.
Earlier at the inaugural WPL player auction hosted by the BCCI in Mumbai, Capri Global Holdings Private Limited won the bid for the Lucknow-based franchise at INR 757 Crores.
Warriorz will kick off their WPL campaign in a clash against the Gujarat Giants on March 5 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
In the first edition of the tournament, there will be a total of 20 league matches and 2 Playoff games that will be played over a duration of 23 days.
A total of 22 matches will be played in the inaugural WPL season, with 11 matches each held at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
The Final of WPL 2023 will be played at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on March 26.
UP Warriorz squad: Alyssa Healy (capt), Sophie Ecclestone, Deepti Sharma, Tahlia McGrath, Shabnim Ismail, Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Parshavi Chopra, Shweta Sehrawat, S Yashasri, Kiran Navgire, Grace Harris, Devika Vaidya, Lauren Bell, Laxmi Yadav, Simran Shaikh.
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