TONIGHT, history is made.

For years the Indian Premier League has reshaped the domestic cricket landscape in the men’s game and now, it’s the women’s turn.

Tonight sees the very first Women’s Premier League (WPL) season get underway, with five teams – Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and UP Warriorz – set to contest the inaugural season, with a winner set to be crowned at the end of the month.

There will be plenty of familiar faces not only leading their respective sides, but playing across the competition.

Unsurprisingly, since the teams could pick only so many internationals, the vast majority ended up being Australians.

Many of Australia’s winning T20 World Cup squad will be playing, including the likes of Meg Lanning, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney and Ash Gardner.

But Australians were not the only internationals to get a coveted spot in the inaugural competition.

The likes of South African quick Marizanne Kapp, star English spinner Sophie Ecclestone and Kiwi allrounder Sophie Devine are all going to be playing in the inaugural competition.

The teams are so new, there is not a lot to go off in terms of predicting who will emerge victorious this season. All teams have quality coaches, and all the teams have quality leaders, but there is no team chemistry between in any of the sides yet.

The question will be of which club can gel the quickest and emerge victorious, and which club can utilise existing partnerships within their side to the best advantage.

2023 Squads

Delhi Capitals

Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Marizanne Kapp (SA), Meg Lanning (AUS), Alice Capsey (ENG), Shikha Pandey, Jess Jonassen (AUS), Laura Harris (AUS), Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Minnu Mani, Poonam Yadav, Sneha Deepthi, Taniyaa Bhatia, Titas Sadhu, Jasia Akhter, Aparna Mondal, Tara Norris (USA)

Gujarat Giants

Ashleigh Gardner (AUS), Beth Mooney (AUS), Georgia Wareham (AUS), Sneh Rana, Annabel Sutherland (AUS), Deandra Dottin (WI), Sophia Dunkley (ENG), Sushma Verma, Tanuja Kanwer, Harleen Deol, Ashwani Kumari, Dayalan Hemalatha, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, Sabbineni Meghana, Hurley Gala, Parunika Sisodia, Shabnam Shakil

Mumbai Indians

Natalie Sciver (ENG), Pooja Vastrakar, Harmanpreet Kaur, Yastika Bhatia, Amelia Kerr (NZ), Amanjot Kaur, Hayley Matthews (WI), Chloe Tryon (SA), Heather Graham (AUS), Isabelle Wong (ENG), Priyanka Bala, Dhara Gujjar, Humairaa Kaazi, Jintimani Kalita, Neelam Bisht, Saika Ishaque, Sonam Yadav

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, Ellyse Perry (AUS), Renuka Singh, Sophie Devine (NZ), Heather Knight (ENG), Megan Schutt (AUS), Kanika Ahuja, Dane van Niekerk (SA), Erin Burns (AUS), Preeti Bose, Komal Zanzad, Asha Shobana, Disha Kasat, Indrani Roy, Poonam Khemnar, Sahana Pawar, Shreyanka Patil

UP Warriorz

Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone (ENG), Devika Vaidya, Tahlia McGrath (AUS), Shabnim Ismail (SA), Grace Harris (AUS), Alyssa Healy (AUS), Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shweta Sehrawat, Kiran Navgire, Lauren Bell (ENG), Laxmi Yadav, Parshavi Chopra, S. Yashasri, Simran Shaikh

2023 Season Fixture (All times AEDT)

March 5 – 1am – Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians
March 5 – 9pm – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Capitals
March 6 – 1am – UP Warriorz vs Gujarat Giants
March 7 – 1am – Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
March 8 – 1am – Delhi Capitals vs UP Warriorz
March 9 – 1am – Gujarat Giants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
March 10 – 1am – Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians
March 11 – 1am – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs UP Warriorz
March 12 – 1am – Gujarat Giants vs Delhi Capitals
March 13 – 1am – UP Warriorz vs Mumbai Indians
March 14 – 1am – Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
March 15 – 1am – Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants
March 16 – 1am – UP Warriorz vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
March 17 – 1am – Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Giants
March 18 – 9pm – Mumbai Indians vs UP Warriorz
March 19 – 1am – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Giants
March 20 – 9pm – Gujarat Giants vs UP Warriorz
March 21 – 1am – Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals
March 21 – 9pm – Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians
March 22 – 1am – UP Warrioz vs Delhi Capitals
March 25 – 1am – The Eliminator
March 27 – 1am – The Final