Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana skips WBBL for second straight year

• Image Credit: google

• Aug 29, 2023 | Poonam Nath

Smriti Mandhana will miss the WBBL for the second year in a row since ...

Digital Desk: Smriti Mandhana, vice-captain of the India women's team, will again miss the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) for the second year in a row since she did not enter the maiden player draught on September 3. 

Almost all of India's top players, including captain Harmanpreet Kaur, youngster Harleen Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Deepti Sharma, are among the 122 overseas players who have registered for the tournament. There are a total of 18 Indian players on the list, including Harmanpreet (Melbourne Renegades) and Jemimah (Melbourne Stars).

Mandhana, who decided not to participate in the WBBL last year as well, reportedly wants to focus on the next domestic season while carefully managing her workload in preparation for a hectic international year.

According to a report in ESPNcricinfo, Mandhana may decide to represent Maharashtra in the domestic season, which will run from October 19 to January 26 of the following year and overlap with the WBBL.

Additionally, starting on October 19, the WBBL will last till December 2.

The Hangzhou Asian Games, which will begin on September 23, will be Mandhana's maiden duty for the nation.

England tops the list of international players in the draught pool with 35 players, followed by South Africa with 20, which includes their striking opener Laura Wolvaardt, Lizelle Lee, and Shabnim Ismail.

List of India's players in the WBBL draft: Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur (Melbourne Renegades), Harleen Deol, Hurley Gala, Richa Ghosh, Mannat Kashyap, Amanjot Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Shreyanka Patil, Sneh Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues (Melbourne Stars), Meghana Sabbineni, Deepti Sharma, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav.