Predicting the captains of each team in the Women's Premier League (WPL)

The Women's Premier League (WPL) will begin later this year in India and the five franchises set to compete in the WPL were sold earlier today. The Adani Group made history by bidding an enormous sum of ₹1,289 crore for the Ahmedabad franchise.

Five-time Indian Premier League champion the Mumbai Indians secured the Mumbai franchise with a bid worth ₹912.99 crore. The Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals bought the Bengaluru and Delhi franchises for ₹901 crore and ₹810 crore, respectively.

The Lucknow franchise was sold to Capri Global for ₹757 crore.

The five franchise owners will now aim to build strong squads for the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League. One of the major decisions that each team will have to make is to choose the right captain.

Since the player auction is yet to happen and squads have not been finalized, here's a list of the five players who will be in contention to lead the teams in the WPL.

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#1 Smriti Mandhana

India Women v West Indies Women - Women's T20I Tri-Series (Image: Getty)

Smriti Mandhana is one of the top T20I players in the world right now. She has made a name for herself with her brilliant batting performances at the top of the order. Mandhana is a former Women's T20 Challenge captain, making her a strong contender to become a skipper in the WPL.

Since she was born in Mumbai, the Mumbai Indians may try to rope her in as their first captain.

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#2 Harmanpreet Kaur

India Women v West Indies Women - Women's T20I Tri-Series (Image: Getty)

Harmanpreet Kaur is the captain of the Indian women's T20I team. She is also among the top all-rounders in the world and was the winning captain of the previous edition of the Women's T20 Challenge.

Kaur will likely be in big demand among the Women's Premier League teams. The Adani Group spent big to secure the Ahmedabad franchise, and they might not shy away from bidding another huge figure to secure the Indian skipper's services.

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#3 Suzie Bates

New Zealand v Bangladesh - 2nd ODI (Image: Getty)

Given how well overseas women's cricketers perform in T20 cricket, it should not be a surprise if some of them earn big contracts from WPL teams. Additionally, some could also become captains.

New Zealand's Suzie Bates has a ton of experience under her belt. She led the Oval Invincibles to the Women's Hundred title in 2022, and one of the Women's Premier League teams may look at making her their captain.

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#4 Meg Lanning

Meg Lanning has achieved enormous success as captain of the Australian team. She led the Aussies to the Commonwealth Games gold medal last year before taking an indefinite break from the sport.

Lanning has since returned to the cricket field and it will be interesting to see if one of the Women's Premier League teams sign her to lead their franchise.

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#5 Tahlia McGrath

Tahlia McGrath is one of the top women's cricketers in the world right now. The Australian star led the Adelaide Strikers to the Women's Big Bash League title last year after guiding them to the final of the 2021 edition as well.

Considering her impressive record in franchise cricket as captain, McGrath will likely be in the reckoning to become a captain in the Women's Premier League.