Biography
Capri Global Holdings Private Limited went in with a bid of INR 757 crore which was accepted making the UP women’s side one of the five teams to participate in the inaugural Women’s T20 League. Rajesh Sharma is the CEO of the investment holding company that has several subsidiaries through which they conduct business in the manufacturing, real estate, and finance industries with this being their first sports venture.
They have assembled a good set of support staff with former England cricketer Jon Lewis appointed as the head coach of the team. They have recruited former India wicket-keeper Anju Jain who is also an Arjuna Award winner as the assistant coach and former Australia cricketer Ashley Noffke will be the bowling coach. The biggest boost for them is the inclusion of Australia’s Lisa Sthalekar who has been world champion four times, as the mentor of the side.
Experienced Australian wicket-keeper Alyssa Healy will captain the side and all-rounder Deepti Sharma will be the vice-captain having made her their record signing for INR 2.6 crore. Their overseas group comprises Australia’s Tahila McGrath and Grace Harris who are joined by England’s Sophie Ecclestone and Lauren Bell along with South Africa’s premier fast bowler Shabnim Ismail. Devika Vaidya, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, and Anjali Sarvani are some of the key Indian players and the two standout players from India’s U19 World Cup campaign Shweta Sehrawat and Parshavi Chopra are also a part of the team.
UP had a decent season in 2023 finishing third with four wins and four losses. They qualified for the playoffs but unfortunately were knocked out by Mumbai in the Eliminator. Ahead of the Women’s T20 League 2024 auction, they released four players with the most notable ones being Devika Vaidya and Shabnim Ismail. However, they picked up the vastly experienced English cricketer Danielle Wyatt for just INR 30 lakhs while their most expensive buy in the auction was uncapped Indian batter Vrinda Dinesh who has shown a lot of potential in the domestic circuit. They will be hoping for an even better season this time and go one step further in this edition.
