In cricket, captains play a huge role in their teams’ success or failure with their tactics. His/her role is to recognise skilled players and get the best out of them to get effective results for the team. Along with extracting excellent services from players, a skipper also has to play fearlessly and set an example for his/her teammates.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) are the best teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with five trophies each side and one of the reasons for their success has been incredible leadership. CSK got the amazing leadership services of MS Dhoni until 2023 while MI also witnessed sensational captaincy from Rohit Sharma.
This year, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) clinched the coveted trophy under Smriti Mandhana in the second edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL). The India veteran led Bangalore from the front and succeeded in fulfilling the wishes of her team’s supporters.
Here are the ratings of all captains in the 2024 WPL:
5. Alyssa Healy- 4/10
Alyssa Healy looked completely out of rhythm in the 2024 WPL. As a captain, she failed to take UP Warriorz (UPW) to the playoffs, guiding the team to only three wins out of eight matches. Talking about her batting performance, she couldn’t give quality starts to the side as an opener.
Appearing in eight matches, she scored only 175 runs in eight matches at a strike rate of 117.44. The wicketkeeper batter looked defensive as a skipper which proved detrimental for UP in the competition.
4. Beth Mooney- 4.5/10
Australia stalwart Beth Mooney failed to deliver her services to Gujarat Giants (GG) for the entire 2023 season after picking up a calf injury in the maiden WPL match. This year, Gujarat played under the Aussie’s leadership but couldn’t uplift their performance graph. With only two wins off eight games, GG couldn’t qualify for the playoffs for two consecutive seasons.
Mooney ended up as the leading run-getter for her side with 285 runs in eight matches at a strike rate of 141.08. However, her captaincy was ordinary in the tournament which concluded Gujarat’s journey at the bottom of the points table.
3. Harmanpreet Kaur- 7/10
Mumbai Indians (MI) title defence ended with a five-run loss against RCB in the playoffs held at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Mumbai’s skipper Harmanpreet Kaur again showcased her batting mettle and ended up as the leading run-getter for the team with 268 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 141.05.
In the league round, her batting efforts handed Mumbai victory in some crucial games. She exhibited discipline in the batting and captaincy roles but didn’t get enough assistance from her colleagues.
2. Meg Lanning- 8.5/10
Under Meg Lanning’s captaincy, DC played an aggressive brand of cricket in the 2024 WPL and topped the points table. Their excellent performance in the league round helped them qualify for the final directly. Lanning, who won the Orange Cap in 2023, displayed her batting potential again and ended up as the second-leading run-scorer with 331 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of 123.04.
During the tournament, the Aussie utilised her bowlers cleverly. She showed trust in veterans such as Jess Johnassen, Marizanne Kapp, and Shikha Pandey and they gave her effective numbers with the ball. In the batting department, she elicited impressive numbers from youngsters such as Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Alice Capsey.
1. Smriti Mandhana- 9/10
Following RCB’s debacle in the previous season, captain Smriti Mandhana was required to instil confidence in her teammates to inspire them to lift the coveted trophy. Handling the captaincy role, Mandhana witnessed her team’s struggle in the league round but in the crunch situation, she showed nerves of steel and took the side to the final.
She utilised Ellyse Perry’s all-round talent exceptionally to help Bangalore bag the trophy. The 27-year-old also ensured that the captaincy mantle shouldn’t take a toll on her batting. As an opener, she hit 300 runs in 10 matches at a strike rate of 133.92.
from CricTracker https://ift.tt/qDHRgnW