Women's Premier League kicks off! Key details of opening ceremony
The inaugural Women's Premier League (WPL) edition will be underway tonight with the blockbuster clash between Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians. Bollywood stars Kiara Advani and Kriti Sanon, as well as singer AP Dhillon, lit up the DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai during the grand opening ceremony. The audience had a ball, witnessing several mesmerizing performances. Here are further details.
Advani, Sanon, and Dhillon entertain the crowd
Bollywood actor Advani was the first to take center stage. She gave a special performance on quite a few dance numbers. Sanon began with an inspirational number from the movie, 'Chak De India'. She then grooved to the dance numbers on the stage. Singer Dhillon entertained the audience thereafter with a medley of his vibrant songs. The trio truly set the stage on fire!
Here are the five teams
The Adani Group bought the Ahmedabad-based franchise (Gujarat Giants) for Rs. 1,289 crore. Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd. own Mumbai Indians, having bought the team for Rs. 912.99 crore. Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd bought Royal Challengers Bangalore for Rs. 901 crore. JSW GMR Cricket Pvt. Ltd bagged Delhi Capitals for Rs. 810 crore. Capri Global acquired UP Warriorz for Rs. 757 crore.
A look at the captains and head coaches
Smriti Mandhana will lead RCB (Head coach: Ben Sawyer). MI will be led by Harmanpreet Kaur (Head coach: Charlotte Edwards). Meg Lanning will handle the reins of DC (Head coach: Jonathan Batty). Alyssa Healy will lead UP Warriorz. Jon Lewis will serve the team as the head coach. Beth Mooney will lead Gujarat Giants which has Rachael Haynes as the head coach.
Tournament schedule
The inaugural WPL season will see a total of 20 league matches being played in a span of 23 days. There will be two playoff matches - the Eliminator (on March 24 at DY Patil) and the final (on March 26 at the Brabourne Stadium). Notably, the two stadiums in Mumbai will host 11 matches each. The tournament comprises a total of four double-headers.
