Women's Premier League 2024: Forbes India's best XI of the tournament

Smriti Mandhana Image: Sajjad Hussain / AFP
 
The second edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) concluded on March 18 with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) pipping Delhi Capitals to win the title. The match went to the wire but Smriti Madhana-led RCB held their nerves to finally cross the line with three balls to spare. Delhi Capitals, despite topping the group stage with six wins in eight games, lost their second consecutive final.

The 23-day-long tournament saw some sparkling performances from across the five teams. Several players, especially from the two finalist teams, produced magical performances throughout the tournament to give fans a thrilling experience. In this piece, we put together the best-performing XI players of the WPL 2024.

1. Smriti Mandhana (Royal Challengers Bangalore) - Captain

Before the start of WPL 2024, Mandhana had looked a bit rusty. She was not scoring big runs on a consistent basis. However, as the tournament got underway, she regained her form gradually. Her first good knock came against Gujarat Giants in RCB’s second match of the season. The left-handed batter fired 43 runs in 27 balls, steering RCB to an easy win.

In the next match, she went a step ahead by scoring 74 off 43 balls against Delhi Capitals. This knock gave her a lot of confidence despite RCB falling short to win the game. She was finally playing the fearless cricket that she is known for. Her best knock of the tournament came against UP Warriorz a couple of matches later, where she struck 80 off 50. Mandhana was also instrumental as the captain of RCB and played a vital role in helping them win their maiden WPL trophy.

Shafali Verma Image: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images

2. Shafali Verma (Delhi Capitals)

Verma’s brisk starts at the top was one of the major reasons behind Delhi Capitals’ success in the WPL 2024. The right-handed batter would come out and start hitting big shorts from ball one to put the opposition bowlers under pressure. She scored 309 runs in nine matches at a brilliant strike rate of 156.87– the best in the tournament for a minimum of 150 runs.

She struck a 27-ball 44-run cameo in the finals as well, which was the only bright spot in Delhi’s innings. The 20-year-old also hit the most number of sixes in the tournament– 20 in seven matches.

Ellyse Perry Image: Photo by Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images
 

3. Ellyse Perry (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Give her the bat in hand and she will score big runs; give her the ball and she will take big wickets–Perry is that kind of a player. She was at her very best this season and probably the main reason that RCB was able to win the WPL 2024. She scored a total of 347 runs in nine matches at an amazing average of 69.4.

She also picked up seven wickets in the tournament, out of which six came in one match, where she single-handedly rattled a strong Mumbai Indians batting line-up. Even in the finals, Perry held one side and made unbeaten 37 runs to ensure RCB gets home with eight wickets in hand.

Also read: The WPL has been a gamechanger for women's cricket: Mumbai Indians' Charlotte Edwards

Deepti Sharma Image: Indranil Mukherjee / AFP

4. Deepti Sharma (UP Warriorz)

Sharma was in exceptional form this season with both bat and ball– ending up as the best all-rounder of WPL 2024. She made 295 runs with the bat and picked up 10 wickets with the ball as well. Although UP Warriorz had a horrible tournament–five losses in eight matches–her all-round brilliance stood out. She was crowned as the most valuable player of the WPL 2024.

The right-handed batter scored three consecutive fifties in the last three matches of UP but due to less support from other players, she couldn’t take her team to the playoffs. Sharma’s best knock came against Gujarat Giants, where she struck an unbeaten knock of 88 runs in 60 balls.

Jemimah Rodrigues Image: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images

5. Jemimah Rodrigues (Delhi Capitals)

Rodrigues is a street-smart cricketer and she ensured that she displays her unique skills in most of the games. The right-handed batter scored 235 runs in nine matches with a staggering strike rate of 153.59– second best in the tournament min. 150 runs. Her blitz in the middle order gave Delhi openers the much-needed freedom to attack earlier on.

She hit two fifties in the tournament studded by 26 fours and eight sixes. Her 33-ball 69-run knock against Mumbai Indians, where she tore off a strong Mumbai attack, was one of the highlights of the tournament. She was electrifying on the field as well, taking a few really good catches.

Richa Ghosh Image: Idrees Mohammed / AFP

Also read: Why owners Diageo gave RCB a free hand to buy a WPL team

6. Richa Ghosh (Royal Challengers Bangalore) - Wicketkeeper

There were multiple stars in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s successful campaign in WPL 2024 and Ghosh was one of the lesser talked about ones. She did her job silently most of the time, both with the gloves and with the bat. She scored 257 runs in 10 matches at an excellent average of 42.83 and strike rate of 142.

She was also quite active behind the stumps—taking care of most of the catches and stumping. She even scored the winning runs for RCB in the final. With three needed off four balls, she nonchalantly hit a four to take her team home. She returned making unbeaten 17 runs in 14 balls.

Marizanne Kapp Image: Idrees Mohammed / AFP
 

7. Marizanne Kapp (Delhi Capitals)

The South African pace-bowling all-rounder continued to do well for Delhi Capitals this season, especially with the ball. She was really good with the new ball, taking those important wickets at the top. The right-arm pacer was quite economical as well, ensuring no easy runs were scored against her.

Kapp scalped 11 wickets in 7 matches at an economy of 6.28, ending as the fourth-highest wicket-taker in WPL 2024. Her spell of 4-1-5-3 against UP Warriorz at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru was one of the best spells of the tournament. She was absolutely unplayable in that match. She also bowled a tight spell in the final (4-0-20-0) but it wasn’t enough at the end as her team failed to defend the small total.

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Shreyanka Patil Image: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images

8. Shreyanka Patil (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Patil was phenomenal with the ball throughout the WPL 2024. She picked up wickets in almost every match, hence finishing the tournament as the highest wicket-taker. Her off-spin bowling made a major difference for RCB in the tournament since most of the batters found it hard to take her down.

The spinner picked up 13 wickets in eight matches at an economy of 7.30. She produced a magical performance with the ball in the final as well, taking four wickets by giving away just 12 runs in her four overs. The best thing about her bowling this season was the variety in pace and length. She did not hesitate to give the ball the air, which became a wicket-taking weapon for her.

Sobhana Asha (right) Image: Idrees Mohammed / AFP

9. Asha Sobhana (Royal Challengers Bangalore)

Alongside Shreyanka Patil, Asha Sobhana also played a vital role in helping RCB emerge victorious in WPL 2024. The duo teamed up brilliantly to run through even the best of the batting line-ups. Asha took 12 wickets in 10 matches at an economy of 7.11 to finish the tournament as the second-highest wicket-getter.

She started the tournament on a dream note, taking five wickets by conceding just 22 runs in the first match against UP Warriorz. The leg-spinner although didn’t take these many wickets in the rest of the matches, she ensured to keep it tight and make it easy for other bowlers as well. Her spell of 2-14 in the final helped RCB bundle Delhi for a meagre total of 113 runs.

Jess Jonassen Image: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images
 

10. Jess Jonassen (Delhi Capitals)

The experienced Australian was brilliant with the ball for Delhi Capitals. She scalped 11 wickets in seven matches to end up as the fourth top wicket-taker of WPL 2024. Her slow left-arm spin was hard to deal with for most of the batters since she varied her pace smartly.

Jonassen contributed with the bat as well in a couple of matches. Her best performance came in the first match against RCB, where she took three wickets and scored unbeaten 36 runs in 16 balls. The Aussie bowled a tight spell (0/15) in the final as well.

Shabnim Ismail Image: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images
 

11. Shabnim Ismail (Mumbai Indians)

In WPL 2024, spinners had most of the success but Shabnim Ismail was one of the rare fast bowlers to do partly well. She looked impressive but would have wanted to take more wickets as she finished with just eight wickets in seven matches at an economy of 6.17.

The highlight of her bowling was the speeds she bowled at. She even became the fastest bowler in women’s cricket by clocking 132.1 kilometres per hour (82.1 mph) against Delhi Capitals at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi.

Honourable Mentions: Meg Lanning (Delhi Capitals), Nat Sciver-Brunt (Mumbai Indians), Sophie Ecclestone (UP Warriorz), Sophie Molineux (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Beth Mooney (Gujarat Giants)