 "First Sports Exclusive: Reema Malhotra explains what makes Mumbai Indians so formidable, names players to watch out")
The second edition of the Women’s Premier League is set to get underway on Friday with defending champions Mumbai Indians facing the Delhi Capitals in the tournament opener in Bengaluru. The showdown between the two sides will be a rematch of last year’s final, which the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Mumbai team ended up winning by seven wickets to be crowned the inaugural WPL champions.
In the latest episode of First Sports, former India cricketer Reema Malhotra shared some insights into what makes these two sides, especially current title holders Mumbai, such formidable teams and why they remain frontrunners for the title this season.
“They have a number of match-winners in their team and a number of all-rounders. The team which has number of all-rounders definitely have the edge because then we can see the depth in batting as well as in bowling. That then adds to the captain’s resources. That then reduces the captain’s headache by presenting more options. Mumbai Indians bat till the eighth and ninth positions, and also have plenty of options in both spin and pace as far as bowling options are concerned,” Malhotra said.
Malhotra, who will also be commentating on WPL 2024 for Sports 18/JioCinema, picked Delhi Capitals captain Meg Lanning as well as UP Warriorz’ Chamari Athapaththu and Gujarat Giants’ Phoebe Litchfield as some of the players to watch out this season.
“Meg Lanning knows how to win big matches and knows how to win big tournaments as well. MI won the tournament last year, but the Delhi Capitals had come quite close to lifting the trophy. They did walk away with the ‘Orange Cap’ though in the end. So can’t keep her away from the picture,” Malhotra said.
Read | WPL has led to 'really significant improvement' in Indian players: Meg Lanning
“Chamari Athapaththu, who came in as a replacement but knows how to perform brilliantly at the big stage. She had arrived in the BBL as a replacement, and walked away with the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award. Facing a lot of rejection only intensifies the hunger in a player. Every cricketer has the hunger to perform well. But players like her know what rejection and getting dropped feels like. So Chamari Athapaththu will be someone you’d want to keep an eye on, especially when she performs in India, because the conditions here will suit her.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“Phoebe Litchfield is a good buy for GG because of the kind of form that she is carrying into the tournament, and the fact that you hardly get to witness 360-degree players like her. Litchfield is one of them,” Malhotra added.
Watch the full episode here:
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