Who can beat MI? Power rankings for WPL 2026

* = overseas player

5. Gujarat Giants

Possible playing XI: Danni Wyatt-Hodge*, Beth Mooney* (wk), Sophie Devine*, Ash Gardner*, Bharti Fulmali, Ayushi Soni, Kashvee Gautam, Tanuja Kanwar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Singh, Titas Sadhu.

On the batting front, Gujarat struggled in the Powerplay last season. On paper, that should be better this season with the additions of Sophie Devine, Yastika Bhatia and Danni Wyatt-Hodge. They have the option of going with an all-overseas top four of Wyatt-Hodge, Mooney, Devine and Gardner.

That would leave them slightly thin on back-end power, but the all-Indian bowling attack is not bad at all. Spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad comes with bags of experience, and Renuka Singh is a Powerplay gun. Kashvee Gautam and Titas Sadhu are among the most promising quicks in India today, even if their fitness may be iffy. Gautam, of course, can bat as well.

The alternative route for GG would be to play Bhatia at three in place of Devine, provided she returns from injury before the season begins. Of the current top four, Mooney and Gardner are locks, and Wyatt-Hodge has the best Powerplay strike rate (123) in the last three years.

They could then fit in Georgia Wareham for one of Tanuja Kanwar or Ayushi Soni, to shore up the lower-order. Wareham is an enticing death bowling option as well; across the last three years, the leggie has taken 33 wickets and gone at 7.7 an over in the slog overs in T20 cricket.

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4. Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Possible playing XI: Smriti Mandhana, Gautami Naik, Georgia Voll*, Grace Harris*, Richa Ghosh (wk), Nadine de Klerk*, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Prema Rawat, Shreyanka Patil, Lauren Bell*.

The elephant in RCB’s room is Ellyse Perry’s unavailability. While the news was made public only a week or so prior to the season, the franchise was informed before the auction, and were able to take this into account when going after their targets. RCB were quite clear on wanting to build the best possible bowling attack they could.

Indian quicks Pooja Vastrakar and Arundhati Reddy fit that brief, as do England internationals Lauren Bell and Linsey Smith. The 2024 champions brought back former player Nadine de Klerk after she had an excellent World Cup, and added overseas power with Georgia Voll and Grace Harris.

Familiarity can sometimes be an understated consideration in team composition. Gautami Naik is likely to be a bolter in this XI, having opened alongside Mandhana for the Ratnagiri Jets in this year’s Maharashtra Premier League; she scored 173 runs in six matches, striking at 132. Whether Naik or Voll opens for RCB is still flexible.

A lack of Indian batting depth means the lineup looks a tad stretched lower down. Leggie Prema Rawat may not be starting-quality just yet; in case she doesn’t quite cut it, RCB have the option of bringing in Smith as a Powerplay specialist, replacing Voll with Dayalan Hemalatha and back-loading Lauren Bell’s overs. Expect an improved performance from them this season.

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3. UP Warriorz

Possible playing XI: Meg Lanning*, Kiran Navgire, Phoebe Litchfield* (wk), Shweta Sehrawat, Deandra Dottin*, Deepti Sharma, G Trisha, Sophie Ecclestone*, Shikha Pandey, Kranti Goud, Asha Sobhana.

The post-auction consensus was that UP had won (as much as it is possible to do so at a recruitment drive). It’s hard to argue with that – Meg Lanning and Phoebe Litchfield brought superstar quality, Sophie Ecclestone was signed dirt-cheap and Deepti Sharma returned. It makes Kiran Navgire, Deandra Dottin and Shikha Pandey all look like bonus buys when they could be marquee picks on quality alone.

The ‘wicketkeepers’ column of their squad is intriguing. Shipra Giri is the only listed one in their group, but even before they signed her, head coach Abhishek Nayar said midway through the auction that UP had found someone to keep wickets. Lanning has kept once in the WBBL, but given her excellent fielding Litchfield could be the standout candidate. There are also suggestions that the role could go to Shweta Sehrawat, the only retained player who has reportedly been seen keeping in the nets ahead of the season.

UPW’s batting is their strong suit, with the capability to consistently score at 10 an over in the back half of the innings. Kiran Navgire at the top would give them the best chance of getting off to a flyer – none of their other top-order batters strike at over 110 in the Powerplay across the last three years.

Deepti-Ecclestone-Sobhana is a stellar spin trio, and Pandey gives UP an all-phase pacer, allowing them to tweak Kranti Goud’s allocation accordingly. Amid the bigger names, the 20-year-old G Trisha will be out of the spotlight, which may be a good thing for her development. It is hard to pick holes in this team; Charli Knott was also a shrewd replacement signing for Tara Norris.

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2. Delhi Capitals

Possible playing XI: Laura Wolvaardt*, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Marizanne Kapp*, Niki Prasad, Chinelle Henry*, Mamatha Madiwala (wk), Alana King*, Sneh Rana, N Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma.

DC had a solid auction, adding power to their batting lineup with Chinelle Henry and Lizelle Lee, as well as snapping up Laura Wolvaardt and 16-year-old Deeya Yadav, the most exciting uncapped batter on the domestic circuit.

Annabel Sutherland’s unavailability for this season is a blow to their already-thin pace department, but DC interestingly chose to replace her with leggie Alana King. Kapp is a strong first-choice seamer, but they will have to lean heavily on the untested Nandani Sharma from the domestic point of view. Henry is not exactly a banker either.

Read more: Fresh off maiden WPL contract, 16-year-old batter top-scores for U23 side in domestic title triumph

Playing Lucy Hamilton instead would strengthen that side of things, but DC would then almost certainly have to replace King with Minnu Mani as well since Kapp, Henry and Wolvaardt should take three of the four overseas spots. Sneh Rana and N Shree Charani will likely be locks for the spin department either way.

If Wolvaardt opens, DC will be able to play only one of Deeya and another highly-rated uncapped player in Niki Prasad, whom they retained. Playing Lizelle Lee instead gives them a more explosive option at the top – she has struck at over 150 in her last three WBBL seasons – and more importantly a wicketkeeper, opening the possibility of both Yadav and Prasad playing, with Mamatha Madiwala dropping out.

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1. Mumbai Indians

Possible playing XI: Hayley Matthews*, G Kamalini (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt*, Harmanpreet Kaur, Amelia Kerr*, Poonam Khemnar, S Sajana, Amanjot Kaur, Sanskriti Gupta, Shabnim Ismail*, Saika Ishaque.

The defending champions had a clear auction strategy; to re-acquire as many of their players as possible. Having retained Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews, they aggressively pursued (and bought back) Amelia Kerr, keeping their combination of three genuine all-rounders in their top five.

Saika Ishaque, Sanskriti Gupta, Sajeevan Sajana and Shabnim Ismail are all also back at the franchise, making a total of 10 players from last season in their potential starting XI. What makes them look even more fearsome now is the form of G Kamalini.

Also read: Who is G Kamalini, and why she has become one of the best-paid 16-year-olds in global sport?

The 17-year-old was already highly-rated last year but with the exit of Yastika Bhatia could move up the order this season, to her more regular position. In this year’s Senior Women’s T20 Cup, Kamalini scored 297 runs in seven games for Tamil Nadu, averaging 49.5 and striking at 110.

MI were relatively slow starters with the bat last season, but their excellent bowling attack ensured that more or less did not matter. If Kamalini comes good, even that weakness may cease to exist. As always, they start as hot favourites for the playoffs.

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