THIS week the 2025 edition of the Indian Women’s Premier League (IWPL) kicks off, and ahead of the tournament Rookie Me Central will take a look at all of the teams individually and give you the reader an idea of the key players to look out for.

Today we kick off the series with taking a look at the perennial bridesmaids of the competition, the Delhi Capitals.

Many sports leagues around the world have a side that is the perennial bridesmaid. The side that makes the Grand Final on a regular basis but never go all the way and win the title.

Unfortunately for the Delhi Capitals, they are the IWPL’s bridesmaids. They have made the last two finals but finished as runners up on both occasions.

Their line up is still pretty ladened with talent, so they will be hoping they finally have all the pieces to go all the way.

In terms of the Indian talent in the side, there are some big names, some emerging stars and some young potential future stars.

The biggest names of these is Jemimah Rodrigues, who alongside the likes of Shafali Verma will be looking to pile on the runs early.

On the younger end of the spectrum, Niki Prasad is a new face in this side, and she has just come off captaining India to a title defence at the Under 19 World Cup. She is a middle order batter than can bowl a bit of spin. Minnu Mani is another youngster on the rise that will be looking to really prove herself this tournament.

On the international side of things, it does not get much bigger than Capitals’ skipper Meg Lanning. In a different phase of her career now compared to where she was even a year ago, she has the potential to really blow the competition away.

Lanning will not be the only Aussie Capital this season, with Annabel Sutherland and Jess Jonassen both suiting up for the Capitals this season. Those two are coming off contrasting Aussie summers, but both have plenty to prove.

Someone else who has something to prove is Alice Capsey, who after a disastrous Ashes tour with England will want nothing more than to have a dominant season and get some silverware for her side.

The new international face in the squad is Scottish wicketkeeper/batter Sarah Bryce, who will be looking to come in and make an impact like she did for the Sydney Sizers in the WBBL. The question though will be if she can get past local wicketkeeping choices Nandini Kashyap and Taniyaa Bhatia and become the first choice wicketkeeper option.

DELHI CAPITALS 2025 SQUAD

Jemimah Rodrigues, Meg Lanning, Shafali Verma, Sneha Deepthi, Alice Capsey, Annabel Sutherland, Arundhati Reddy, Jess Jonassen, Marizanne Kapp, Minnu Mani, N. Charani, Niki Prasad, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Nandini Kashyap, Sarah Bryce, Taniyaa Bhatia, Titas Sadhu