Meg Lanning may have won the Orange Cap for the most runs scored in the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League last year, but the Delhi Capitals captain would have preferred winning the title instead.

Everyone expected it – they finished at the top of the table and qualified directly for the final. They were led by Australia’s most successful captain and boasted some incredible talent in their squad including Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp, Shafali Verma and Jess Jonnasen.

But it was a determined Harmanpreet Kaur and Mumbai Indians who ultimately pipped them to the title. Come Season 2 that begins on February 23, Delhi Capitals will be hoping the small additions they’ve made to the squad in the auction in December will prove fruitful.

One of the two teams that enter the tournament with a full-strength squad, Lanning and Co will be hoping to get things off to a flyer when they face Mumbai Indians in a repeat of last year’s final at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Because of the depth that their squad possesses, the Delhi camp made only three buys in the auction in December – the biggest being Australia’s Annabel Sutherland who was picked up for Rs 2 Cr. With their remaining purse, Delhi bought back Bengal wicketkeeper Aparna Mondal and also took in Ashwani Kumari.

A few concerns lay ahead of the second season with Lanning having not played much since her retirement last year. Kapp too is in doubt of making the starting game, having been ruled out of the one-off Test between South Africa and Australia due to undisclosed reasons.

Also read: WPL 2024: Format, schedule, squads – All you need to know about the second edition

Strengths and Weaknesses

The biggest strength that last year’s runners-up have is their all-round abilities. The squad has power hitters in Verma and Rodrigues, the latter having had a good home season in the series against England and Australia.

Alongside these two, the foreign all-rounders in Sutherland, Kapp and Jonnasen boast of dominant skills with the bat and ball. Sutherland is coming off an incredible double century in the one-off Test against South Africa in Perth.

In the overall pace department, Delhi will be led by Shikha Pandey, one of India’s more successful bowlers, but will have the likes of Kapp and youngster Titas Sadhu for support. Sadhu in particular will be a valuable resource for Lanning, as she was for India during the 2022 Asian Games final against Sri Lanka that saw the Indian women’s team win gold in Hangzhou, China.

Poonam Yadav and Minnu Mani make up the spinners department with the latter having made her India debut against Bangladesh after the first WPL season. A year’s worth of international match experience will definitely come in handy but spinners rarely have a good time at both the Bengaluru and Delhi stadiums with their speedy outfields and smaller boundaries.

Alice Capsey is also another wildcard who is handy with both the ball and bat for England. The 19-year-old is similar to Jonnasen in the skills she offers to the squad with her off-break bowling and batting abilities, which could be another positive for Lanning and Co.

If there is a weakness to be picked on in this squad, it is their over-reliance on Lanning and Verma to strike big at the top. This was their downfall in the final last year, where the dismissal of the Australian saw Delhi lose four wickets before Pandey and Radha Yadav put on that brilliant 52-run partnership for the last wicket.

The duo are once again likely to open the batting with Rodrigues and Kapp coming in at three and four, making it a strong top-order line-up, one that will relish the pitches in Bengaluru and later on, in Delhi. But they will need to take care that they don’t rely too much on their openers with the presence of other equally able batters.

Players to watch out for:

Titas Sadhu: The youngster was the star of the first Twenty20 International against Australia last month when she picked up figures of 4/17 to demolish the visitors’ top order. Sadhu definitely has the ability to pick up key wickets in tight situations and could impress as one of the two main fast bowlers for Delhi.

Annabel Sutherland: It is a testament to Australia’s batting line-up that Sutherland hasn’t had much of a chance in the last few months to wield the bat until that mammoth Test innings. But the Australian all-rounder has the capability to build on the foundation set by the top order and pick up wickets with her medium pace bowling.

Squad: Meg Lanning (C)*, Jemimah Rodrigues, Alice Capsey*, Arundati Reddy, Jess Jonnasen*, Laura Harris*, Marizanne Kapp*, Minnu Mani, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sneha Deepthi, Taniya Bhatiaa, Titas Sadhu, Annabel Sutherland*, Aparna Mondal, Ashwani Kumari

— * denotes overseas player

Predicted XI: Shafali Verma, Meg Lanning (C)*, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp*, Alice Capsey*, Annabel Sutherland*, Shikha Pandey, Taniyaa Bhatia (wk), Radha Yadav, Minnu Mani, Titas Sadhu

— * denotes overseas player