Heading into the Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction, last season’s finalists Delhi Capitals are looking to strike a balance in their squad, after having retained the core of their team, and releasing three players ahead of the mini auction in Mumbai on Saturday.

The Capitals have Rs 2.25 crore available going into the auction, only Mumbai Indians have a smaller purse, and have a maximum of three slots to fill. They’ve released three players – Jasia Akhtar and Aparna Mondal along with USA fast bowler Tara Norris, who picked up the WPL’s first five-for.

Speaking ahead of the auction, head coach Jonathan Batty said, “We want to improve the depth of the squad. We did really well in last year’s auction and constructed a good 18-player squad. We’ll just look to make our current squad slightly better in the upcoming auction. The coaching group has had a few discussions on the team we want to have and we are excited to go into the auction.”

Batty also expressed that the WPL has set the standard for all the other women’s tournaments in the world, “We witnessed a great quality of cricket in the last edition of the Women’s Premier League. The best players in the world were in the tournament. We saw some great matches and scores. This tournament is the benchmark for all the other women’s tournaments in the world.”

When asked about the impact of the WPL, assistant coach Hemlata Kala said, “There’s a lot of excitement among the women cricketers after the advent of the Women’s Premier League. All players want to be a part of the tournament. The first season of the WPL has had a positive impact on women’s cricket. And we can see that with the Indian team doing well in T20s in recent months. The players have also improved their skills in power-hitting and fielding.”

During the off-season, the Capitals put together two elaborate camps, where they had a look at potential new signings. Hemlata along with Biju George, the team’s fielding coach, were entrusted with the tasks of shortlisting the probables, given that they have been to the women’s domestic tournaments. The camps were held in Delhi and Bengaluru.

Overseas Players: Meg Lanning (C), Jess Jonassen, Marizanne Kapp, Alice Capsey, Laura Harris.

Indian Players: Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Taniyaa Bhatia, Minnu Mani, Sneha Deepthi, Titas Sadhu.