5 Key Players You Need to Watch in WPL 2025!

The Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 started with an electrifying clash with the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) triumphing over Gujarat Giants (GG) by 6 wickets in a high-score chasing thriller on February 14 (Friday) at Kotambi Stadium, Vadodara.

The ongoing third edition of the WPL 2025 features a plethora of talented women cricketers who are eager to prove their competency by delivering an impactful performance. Not only the Indian players but also the overseas talents are constantly striving to garner the huge attention of the viewers by enhancing their team’s winning chances.

It’s a perfect moment to delve deeper into the five key players from each team who can light up this season with their magnificent performances.

1. Deandra Dottin (Gujarat Giants): All-Rounder

Hailed as one of the greatest T20 women cricketers, Deandra Dottin is yet to make her WPL debut. A controversial expulsion in the inaugural season resulted in her being unsold in the WPL 2024 auction. Finally, the 33-year-old marks her return to the Gujarat Giants.

The pace-bowling all-rounder has proven her mettle as an aggressive right-handed batter and medium pacer who can grab wickets under pressure.

Dottin compiled 3,004 runs and bagged 71 wickets in women’s T20 Internationals (T20Is). Her presence will be a boon to Gujarat, helping the franchise recover from a disappointing performance in back-to-back seasons. 

2. Smriti Mandhana (Royal Challengers Bengaluru): Batter

Smriti Mandhana had a memorable year by ending the RCB’s title drought under her captaincy, thereby inspiring male counterparts to win their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy.

She was recently honored with the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award for her outstanding contribution with the bat scoring 747 runs in 13 matches, including 4 centuries and 3 half-centuries in the 50-over format for Team India.

After recovering from a poor WPL 2023 season scoring 149 runs in 8 innings, the left-handed batter made a remarkable comeback. She made a noteworthy contribution for RCB scoring 300 runs in 10 innings of the previous season, averaging at 30.00 at a strike rate with 2 fifties. Also, the 28-year-old was the fourth-highest run scorer of the season.

The following table is a comparison of the RCB captain’s batting stats in WPL starting from the inaugural edition to the recently concluded match against Gujarat Giants (updated as of 15th February 2025):

Smriti’s batting skills at the top order make her one of the promising candidates you need to watch out for in WPL 2025.

3. Annabel Sutherland (Delhi Capitals): All-Rounder

Annabel Sutherland’s consistency in the past two years prompted Delhi Capitals to secure the services of the best all-rounder in women’s cricket for INR 2 crore.

The following table highlights Sutherland’s batting and bowling performance in WPL till the recently concluded match against MI of the continuing 2025 edition:

The 23-year-old Aussie was the leading run scorer in the recently concluded Ashes scoring 163 runs in a one-off clash. Also, she achieved three white-ball centuries in the ODI format. Perhaps, this could be one of the main reasons to honor the Belinda Clarke Award’, which ignites the hopes to register her name as DC’s reliable pace bowling all-rounder.

4.  Harmanpreet Kaur (Mumbai Indians): All-Rounder

Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur has been one of the top-performing Indian women cricketers in the 2023 and 2024 editions. The spin-bowling all-rounder led MI to win the championship title in the inaugural season.

Here is a detailed stats of the 35-year-old’s performance as a right-handed batter till the recent match against DC (updated as of 15th February 2025):

Considering the recent scores, Harmanpreet’s supportive 22-ball-42 run knock (including 4 fours and 3 sixes) along with Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 59-ball-80 runs (including 13 fours) steered MI to 164.

The women-in-blue under Kaur’s captaincy lost their first match of the ongoing WPL 2025 season to DC by 2 wickets. Nevertheless, the Indian women’s cricket team captain is expected to add another valuable contribution to MI in the league’s third edition in terms of batting, bowling, and captaincy.

5. Tahlia McGrath (UP Warriorz): All-Rounder

Australian pace bowling all-rounder Tahlia McGrath is known for her effective performance as a right-handed batter and right-arm medium-pace bowler. She was one of the best reliable batters for UP Warriorz in the inaugural season of WPL, accumulating 302 runs in 9 matches and claiming 2 wickets. However, the 2024 edition saw her lackluster performance having scored just 27 runs and taking a single wicket.

Here is a comparison of McGrath’s batting and bowling stats in the past two seasons of the WPL illustrated in a tabular form: