RCB and Delhi Capitals will clash on March 5, know which team has the upper hand

Mumbai When the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) team takes on the field against Delhi Capitals in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) match here on Sunday, the aggressive batsman Shefali Verma will face the challenge of RCB captain Smriti Mandhana’s restrained batting. RCB have roped in quality international players in the likes of Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight and Sophie Devine and also have an excellent captain in Mandhana, who is the league’s highest-selling player for Rs 3.40 crore.

The team has Richa Ghosh which makes the team look strong. But if Indian talent is to be seen, on paper, multiple-time World Cup-winning great Australian player Meg Lanning’s Delhi Capitals have a slight edge over their rivals. Jess Jonassen, Marijane Kapp and Ellyse Capse are likely to be the four overseas players along with Lanning but Delhi’s Indian line-up is strong as well as dangerous. Shefali, Jemima Rodrigues, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Tania Bhatia, Radha Yadav are all experienced players from India.

Under-19 World Cup-winning fast bowler Titas Sadhu, Kashmir’s Jasia Akhtar and wicketkeeper Aparna Mandal are in the squad. Delhi Capitals have picked the best potential Indian talent. Lanning said in a Delhi Capitals release, “I have had a conversation with some of the players and I am trying to get to their strong side, how they would like to play and what they think. Hopefully, I can learn something from these girls and give them a bit of knowledge as well.” For Mandhana, four overseas players are easy to pick which are Kapp, Knight, Perry and fast bowler Megan Schutt. But his problem will be to fix the places of at least four Indian players. Of these, three should be automatic choices, including the captain himself, Richa and fast bowler Renuka Thakur.

The teams are as follows:

Delhi Capitals:
Meg Lanning (c), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Jess Jonassen, Ellyse Capse, Tara Norris, Laura Harris, Marijane Kapp, Poonam Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Tania Bhatia (wk), Aparna Mandal (wk), Titas Sadhu, Arundhati Reddy , Radha Yadav, Meenu Mani, Jasia Akhtar.

RCB :
Smriti Mandhana (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), Dane van Niekerk, Heather Knight, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Sophie Devine, Erin Burns, Disha Kasat, Sahana Pawar, Renuka Thakur, Komal Janjad, Poonam Khemnar, Kanika Ahuja, Preeti Bose, Shobhana Asha, Shreyanka Patil and Indrani Roy (wicketkeeper). The match will start at 7:30 pm Indian time.