Bengaluru: The UP Warriorz were one of the most watchable teams at the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League, earlier in March 2023, in Mumbai. While they finished third in the tournament, the preparations for Season 2 are well and truly on track, with the Indian players and coaching staff undergoing an intense week-long camp, here.
The camp also had the former India cricketer and Kolkata Knight Riders’ assistant coach Abhishek Nayar, working with the players, alongside the likes of head coach Jon Lewis, assistant coach Anju Jain and mentor Lisa Sthalekar. Along with them, it was the Indian contingent from the UP Warriorz squad who were present for the camp.
Once the camp concluded, head coach Jon Lewis touched upon the week gone by, saying, “So the off-season camp has gone really well. The players have all really bought into what we’ve been asking them to do. We’ve had various different match play scenarios and plenty of opportunities to look at players, and so that’s been great.”
Also the head coach of the England Women’s Cricket Team, the very experienced and revered Lewis, further indicated that the planning process for WPL Season 2 have already begun.
“The motive and the aim of the off-season camp was to check in with our players and to make sure that the development goals that we set them, the players are working towards those.”
Captained by the Australian legend Alyssa Healy in the opening season, the UP Warriorz was a melting pot of various cultures as players from all over the cricket family were part of the squad.
“I’ve loved every minute of my time with the UP Warriorz so far, It’s been a fantastic opportunity to get to know not only how the Australian players play, how the Indian players play and to watch everyone close up. So, for me as a coach this has been a really fascinating opportunity. We had a really fun first season, but I’m obviously trying to develop and grow and get better for the next WPL season.”
While the likes of Healy, Sophie Ecclestone, Deepti Sharma and Rajeshwari Gayakwad are just some of the names who come to mind in terms of the standout players in the UP Warriorz outfit, Lewis believes every single player on the roster always has room for further improvement.
“I think every player, whether they’re Indian, Australian, English or South African, has areas of their game they need to work on. So, we’ve identified some of those areas with them as individuals. The players are understanding the messages that we’re sending in. So, that’s good for the team on the whole.”
While the WPL brings established players from various countries together on the same platform, this also shines the spotlight, quite brightly, on the younger talent, especially, in the Indian cricketing ecosystem. And the coach wants the players to embrace the learnings, from session to session.
“There’s still a long time before the next WPL season. So, work incredibly hard on your game. And don’t just do it, think after each session, what I’ve learned and how I’m going to improve and understand that you’re going to make a lot of mistakes as a young cricketer and probably the most important thing as a young cricketer is the resilience to come back and the character to bounce back and learning from mistakes,” Lewis signed off with a word of advice.
–IANS