New Delhi, Jan 8 (IANS) Former India captain Anjum Chopra believes Jemimah Rodrigues will discover ‘another side of herself’ when she leads Delhi Capitals (DC) in the upcoming Women’s Premier League (WPL) season, starting in Navi Mumbai on Friday.
Jemimah was the vice-captain to Australia’s multiple-time World Cup-winning captain Meg Lanning when DC finished as runners-up in three successive WPL seasons -- 2023, 2024, and 2025. But with Meg becoming the skipper of UP Warriorz (UPW), Jemimah steps into the leadership role for DC for the first time.
“See, expectations will be there with the franchise also. But for me, it's about when you entrust a player with a role, they start understanding themselves in a different light altogether. So, she's captained Mumbai and been there at the helm. But now leading a franchise team is a different ballgame altogether. Now she will also explore another side of herself, not only as a batter or a fielder, but also as a captain,” Anjum told IANS in an exclusive conversation on the eve of the competition’s commencement.
“Captaincy does not happen only on the ground; it happens off the ground as well. So, you learn more about yourself, like how you're handling yourself in a situation, what you could do, and what you've done better in various manners in which you think as a batter, and a fielder, trying to be ahead of the competition, and sometimes winning a battle or not winning a battle.
“So, I feel it's going to be a nice growth for Jemimah Rodrigues as a cricketer because now she will be handling players like Marizanne Kapp in the lineup, who are already established cricketers, and also players who share the dressing room with her, like Shafali Verma, and Niki Prasad, who is coming through the ranks very quickly. So, it's always a nice responsibility, but what a player makes of it, and how they travel that part of the journey, is what matters," she added.
Though DC have much more batting firepower, and have covered their bases in bowling, Anjum feels they are not guaranteed a smooth path to the trophy, citing the probability of the tournament being more competitive this time.
“I wouldn't put anybody in the finals straight away. I'll say that it should be a very keenly contested one because over the past three seasons, we saw pretty much a three-sided contest for most of the tournament.
“Barring the first two, three or four games, it became very evident that if teams don't get their act together, the tournament goes very quickly because you just play each other twice. But you do come face-to-face in the eliminator or in a final as well. So, it's not like the longer format of the IPL. So, if they don't step up, it’s an issue,” she said.
“Like, GG stepped up last season and came up to the eliminator. Before that, in the first season, UP Warriorz managed to get to the eliminator. So, it was seemingly good. DC has always been in the final before even the last game was decided. So, that was a good sign, but in this season, I wouldn't say that anybody is reaching the final without having a contest to play. It should be a keenly contested and more closely fought WPL this season,” she added.
DC’s fast bowling department lacks the experience of previous seasons following the absence of veteran seamer Shikha Pandey and Annabel Sutherland pulling out due to personal reasons. But Anjum explained that the presence of experienced players will help DC manage things in that department.
“Lucy Hamilton has been doing pretty well in Australia. I think this is her first trip to India. Plus, the variety of a left-arm seamer also helps. So, where is the challenge coming for DC - how do they get Lizelle Lee as a wicket-keeper? Because I would say Chinelle Henry and Marizanne Kapp are no-brainers in the starting line-up.
“But then, you also have to balance out your fast bowlers. They don't have a Shikha Pandey. So, that experience that you're talking about is not there. But again, I say it's a healthy mix because Sneh Rana comes in with that experience as well in the spin-bowling department with (N Sree) Charani.
“But everybody cannot play, so they will need to balance out their batting along with their all-rounders, and how it comes out as a perfect eleven for the Delhi Capitals is crucial. Remember, we have a new leader in the DC team as well. So, I'm sure they've done their homework, and it's now up to putting things together in the park,” she said.
Anjum signed off by saying that, apart from Charani and Gujarat Giants seam-bowling all-rounder Kashvee Gautam, she expects young Haryana batter Deeya Yadav to make an impact if given opportunities to play by DC.
“Although Kashvee Gautam is not an uncapped cricketer, she's already played for India. But now she'll be coming back after an injury, I'll be watching her performance keenly, looking at the T20 World Cup, and more such cricket coming up.
“I'll also be keeping an eye on Charani. Again, she's a capped cricketer, but how she delivers after such a massive high (of winning the ODI World Cup), how she's able to balance it out, that's going to be an interesting part. Apart from that, Deeya Yadav from Haryana has been picked to play for the Delhi Capitals.
“I've heard a lot about this cricketer. So, I'll be keenly watching if Deeya Yadav gets an opportunity to play. Yes, I think she should be okay and be able to find a place in that playing eleven. It's about how they fit the four international players, which is more challenging as compared to adding Indian players,” she concluded.
--IANS
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