Smriti Mandhana to skip WBBL once again, likely to focus on domestic cricket - Reports

Team India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana is likely to skip the upcoming Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) once again in order to manage her workload. She has not put her name on the list of 122 players for the inaugural WBBL overseas draft.

According to an ESPNCricinfo report, Mandhana is likely to participate in domestic cricket, slated to be played from October 19 to January 26.

The domestic season will begin with the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy. It will be followed by the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Trophy, Senior Women’s One Day Trophy, the T20 Challenger Trophy, and the Inter-Zonal One Day Trophy.

The much-awaited WBBL, on the other hand, is scheduled to be played from October 19 to December 2. It will also clash with India’s home season. The Women in Blue are set to host England and Australia in December and January for one-off Tests and combined nine T20Is and ODIs.

On Sunday, August 27, Smriti Mandhana won The Hundred Trophy with the Southern Brave Women, beating the Northern Superchargers Women in the final. She also starred with the bat in the 100-ball competition, scoring 238 runs in nine games, including two half-centuries.

Earlier this year, Mandhana was the most expensive player in the Women’s Premier League. The Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper was bought for ₹3.4 crore.

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18 Indian players shortlisted for WBBL draft excluding Smriti Mandhana

A total of 18 Indian players have been shortlisted for the WBBL 2023-24 draft, including India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and star batter Jemimah Rodrigues. The duo last played for the Melbourne Renegades and the Melbourne Stars, respectively. All-rounder Pooja Vastrakar also represented the Brisbane Heat last season.

The foreign players have been nominated in three categories – Gold ($90K), Silver ($65K) and Bronze ($40K).

List of Indian players in WBBL 2023-24 draft: Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia, Harleen Deol, Hurley Gala, Richa Ghosh, Mannat Kashyap, Amanjot Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Shreyanka Patil, Sneh Rana, Meghana Sabbineni, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Pooja Vastrakar, and Radha Yadav.