Picture Credit: BCCI/WPL

Picture Credit: BCCI/WPL

Women’s Premier League (WPL) franchise, UP Warriorz on Saturday, February 1 received a massive blow as Australian skipper Alyssa Healy confirmed her unavailability for the upcoming edition of the tournament. With the tournament now less than 14 days away from start, Healy confirmed that she would not be able to participate, leaving Warriorz to look for a new skipper.

Notably, Healy’s confirmation came just after the conclusion of the Women’s Ashes series in Australia. Moreover, this comes with the veteran Australian wicketkeeper-batter having fair share of troubles with injuries in last three months. Healy missed a couple of matches in the Women’s T20 World Cup due to a foot injury and was also ruled out of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL).

UP Warriorz to name new skipper ahead of WPL 2025 after Alyssa Healy blow

Healy also missed the T20I leg of the Women’s Ashes due to the same injury, however, she recovered in time for the one-off pink-ball Test in Melbourne. Speaking after the conclusion of the series, which saw Australia clean sweep England, Healy said, "Unfortunately for me, I've got a couple of months feet up. I'm pretty bummed by that, but at the same time elated to have a little bit of downtime and try and get my body right. But I'm looking forward to sticking my feet in an ice bucket.”

"It's been a really frustrating probably 18 months for me ... you get yourself right, back playing, and something else goes wrong. (I'm) going to have a look at a couple of things and how I can be better, maybe a bit more disciplined in some areas, and make sure I'm right to go in particular for that ODI World Cup,” Healy added, highlighting that she’ll aim to be fit for the upcoming ODI World Cup, set to be played in India.

With Healy now missing the third edition of the WPL, Chamari Athapaththu, Tahila McGrath and Deepti Sharma are the frontrunners to be named the skipper of the side, whereas Uma Chetry is likely to take the wicketkeeping gloves for the Warriorz. Speaking of the season, Warriorz will kickstart their campaign against Gujarat Giants on February 16 at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara.

UP Warriorz's WPL 2025 squad

Anjali Sarvani, Deepti Sharma, Grace Harris, Kiran Navgire, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shweta Sehrawat, Sophie Ecclestone, Tahlia McGrath, Vrinda Dinesh, Saima Thakor, Poonam Khemnar, Gouher Sultana, Chamari Athapaththu, Uma Chetry, Arushi Goel, Kranti Goud, Alana King

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