Exploring new pastures pays for WPL

RCB captain Smriti Mandhana, with MI‘s wicket-keeper Yastika Bhatia, at training ahead of Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI), M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru on February 20, 2025.
| Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K

Over the last six days, close to midnight on the Vadodara Halol Highway, you could see scores of young men, and some women too, walking along for miles. Some of them would signal towards the speeding vehicles to hitch a ride, though not with apparent success.

The newly built BCA Stadium is about 25 km away from the city, and getting public transportation late into the night could be extremely difficult. But, that didn’t stop the cricket fans of the cultural capital of Gujarat, turning up in large numbers for every match of the third season of the WPL.

The decision to take women’s cricket’s most glamorous league to newer pastures has indeed been justified. Last year, the WPL travelled to Bengaluru and New Delhi.

And there is another new stop this season: Lucknow, where UP Warriorz will become the last team to get an opportunity to play in front of their fans. Gujarat Giants certainly loved their time before their supporters here.

The first match saw the Giants going past 200, but the defending champion RCB chased that total down with ease. It was for the first time in the WPL that a team batting second was scoring that many runs.

That match also set the template for the rest of the Vadodara leg: all the games were won by chasing. An excellent track and the dew factor made the decision after winning the toss a no-brainer.

RCB is looking impressive. That, mind you, is despite the absence of some of its stars, such as Sophie Devine, Sophie Molineux, Asha Sobhana and Shreyanka Patil.

Smriti Mandhana’s women, however, may not find it easy to retain the title. Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Giants have all looked good enough so far. UP Warriorz, the only team without a win so far, will have to up its game.