WPL 2023: Anjum Chopra, Ex-India Captain, Unhappy With Overseas Players In Leadership Roles

WPL 2023 News: Taking a dig at Delhi Capitals, UP Warriorz and Gujarat Giants, former India captain Anjum Chopra opined that Indians players should have been considered in leadership roles of all the five teams in the inaugural WPL 2023.

While Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) have opted for Indian skippers in Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana respectively, the other three franchises have Meg Lanning (Delhi Capitals), Beth Mooney (Gujarat Giants) and Alyssa Healy (UP Warriorz) as leaders.

“I didn’t like that most of the teams have opted for foreign players as captains because it’s an Indian league and will be played in Indian conditions, so Indian players should have been captains if they have capabilities,” Chopra said in a virtual interaction.

Chopra, who was one of the commentators during the Women’s T20 Challenge, felt that Deepti should have been trusted with the leadership responsibility, since the India all-rounder was Velocity captain last year.

“I thought Deepti Sharma should have been made the captain as she led in the last Women’s T20 Challenge,” Chopra said. Having said that, Chopra also admitted that six-time T20 World Cup champions Australia have more experience than India in terms of captaincy.

“Australian players are world champions and they have the experience of leading sides back home. I completely agree with their (Australian players) experience (at the international stage), and so Jemimah Rodrigues can’t become a captain ahead of Meg Lanning in the same team (Delhi Capitals).

“If I look at the big picture, the Indian players don’t have much captaincy potential like Australian players,” she added.