The Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) 2023 started on October 19 and will run till December 2 in Australia.
The WBBL is Australian women's domestic Twenty20 cricket competition which is organised by Cricket Australia.
As many as eight teams will play a total of 59 matches in WBBL 2023.
Adelaide Strikers, Brisbane Heat, Hobart Hurricanes, Melbourne Renegades, Melbourne Stars, Perth Scorchers, Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder are the eight teams that are battling for the coveted title.
As per the schedule, each team will play the other sides twice in a double round-robin format in home-and-away format.
The teams finishing in the top four will be advancing to the knockout stage. The top-placed team will directly qualify for the final, while the third and fourth-placed sides will clash in the Eliminator. The winner of the Eliminator will face the third-placed team in the Challenger for a place in the summit clash.
The WBBL 2023 final is scheduled to be played on December 2.
Adelaide Strikers are the defending champions of the WBBL after defeating Sydney Sixers by 10 runs in the 2022 final.
Meanwhile, Sydney Sixers, Brisbane Heat and Sydney Thunder are the most successful teams in the tournament’s history with two titles each.
To improve the level of competition, every Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) side can include up to three overseas marquee players.
The likes of Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh and Poonam Yadav are some of the Indian players who have participated in the previous editions of the WBBL. Here we have a look at which Indian players are participating in WBBL 2023.
Indian players in WBBL 2023
Swashbuckling batter Harmanpreet Kaur is the only Indian player in WBBL 2023.
Interestingly, the 34-year-old was the only Indian to get picked among 18 players in the WBBL 2023 draft.
The Indian women’s team white-ball captain was retained by Melbourne Renegades for the ongoing edition of the WBBL. She is currently playing her second season for the franchise.
Having made her WBBL debut in 2016, Harmanpreet Kaur has amassed 1,204 runs in 51 matches at an average of 41.51 and a strike rate of 121.98. The right-handed batter has slammed six fifties in the WBBL and a top score of 81 not out, which she scored last season.
Apart from her battling credentials, Kaur has already picked up 30 WBBL wickets at an economy of 7.49.
Photo credit: Alamy
