Full list of Indians picked for WBBL 2024 ft. Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues
Every year, the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) draft signifies the stature of Indian cricket in the world. The more Indians that get picked up in the highly competitive tournament, the more there's respect for the Women in Blue for their performances, techniques and match-winning abilities.
So it isn't a surprise that a record six Indians will now participate in WBBL 2024, despite two big names, Richa Ghosh and Shafali Verma, not putting in their name for the draft. Some crucial ones, like skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Shreyanka Patil, didn't get picked but that's understandable because of the limited spots.
The six chosen ones are divided into four teams and would likely play an important role for them, while also gaining a ton of experience. Check the names here:
#4 Perth Scorchers - Dayalan Hemalatha
This was perhaps the most surprising yet exciting pick -- from India's perspective -- of the WBBL draft. Dayalan Hemalatha, who has played 34 internationals for India, was picked in the third round of the draft by the Perth Scorchers.
The 29-year-old batter has been fighting hard to fix her place in India's first 11 in both white-ball formats but the high competition has made it difficult. Her spin game is excellent but the Perth pitches are likely to test her technique in facing pace, especially on the short balls, although she seems decent on the pull shot.
India would benefit from her experience alongside Sophie Devine and Beth Mooney. The latter would have also seen a lot of her at the Gujarat Lions in the WPL and, who knows, might have put in a word about her abilities to the Scorchers!
#3 Adelaide Strikers - Smriti Mandhana
In a show of her growing stature and brand value, Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana was the only Indian to be selected as a pre-draft pick for the WBBL. She'll play and most likely open the batting for the Adelaide Strikers this season, after her previous success with the Sydney Thunder and the Brisbane Heat.
It makes up for a daunting batting order for the defending champions, who also have Tahlia McGrath and Laura Wolvaardt on their roster. Mandhana has a brilliant strike rate of 130 in the competition and if she can continue the form she has shown for India in 2024, the Strikers' title defense will be quite hard to stop.
#2 Melbourne Stars - Deepti Sharma and Yastika Bhatia
Melbourne Stars might be one of the favorite teams for Indians watching the WBBL thanks to their big swoop of Deepti Sharma and Yastika Bhatia in the draft. They need some inspiration after a seventh-placed finish last season and Deepti's entry in the first round and Yastika in the third round can give them that.
Deepti has been in brilliant form lately and is high on fame after hitting the championship-winning six in the Women's Hundred last month. Her six-hitting ability has gone to another level this year as her work behind the scenes has come off -- it'll be something that the Stars would rely on, apart from her bowling.
Yastika has spent a lot of time out with injury recently but should enjoy some time in Australia. The conditions would suit her game and she'd also get to improve some aspects of her technique under Meg Lanning and coach Jon Batty.
#1 Brisbane Heat - Jemimah Rodrigues, Shikha Pandey
The Brisbane Heat have gone almost like-for-like to the Stars in terms of their picks. Jemimah Rodrigues' form around the world has been comparable to Deepti's, especially in the Caribbean Premier League and this stint could be her way of announcing that she's on the way to being one of the world's best.
The youngster is the best in strike-rotation in India and doing that in between the long boundaries in Australia would almost certainly make some Heat fans fall in love with her.
By selecting Shikha Pandey after Rodrigues, the Heat has almost epitomized how highly the fast bowler is rated by players and coaches outside India, even as she continues to be ignored by Indian selectors. Her bowling, as we have already seen many a time, is perfect for the conditions and she'd be a handful in Brisbane.