Smriti Mandhana’s languid grace will be up against Shafali Verma’s power when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) take on Delhi Capitals (DC) in the WPL at the Brabourne Stadium on Sunday.
In the other game of the day, UP Warriorz will begin their campaign versus Gujarat Giants at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
RCB have prepared a fantastic roster in terms of international recruits, including skipper Mandhana, who’s the highest paid in the league at Rs 3.40 crore. With Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight, Sophie Devine and the enterprising Richa Ghosh in their ranks, the team does have a formidable look.
On paper though, the multiple World Cup-winning Australian Meg Lanning’s Delhi team will have a slight edge over RCB in terms of pure Indian talent. DC’s India lineup also features Jemimah Rodrigues, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Taniya Bhatia and Radha Yadav, who are all seasoned India players. They also have among them U-19 World Cup-winning seamer Titas Sadhu of Bengal.
Written with PTI inputs
Today’s matches
■ Royal Challengers Bangalore Women vs Delhi Capitals Women, 3.30pm, Brabourne
■ UP Warriorz Women vs Gujarat Giants Women, 7.30pm, DY Patil Matches live on Sports18
