Whether it is the players who perform well or the fans who cheer on, high praise has been reserved for cricket. It is hard work in practice, after all; the balance has been given in equal measure to every player at the maximum possible length. The unified vision is put in place, and, naturally, on-field decisions for each match are taken by the head coach. While the team’s performance is the icing on the cake, the foundation is built by a seasoned head coach.
February’s second week is observed to commence the 2025 edition of the Women’s Premier League, and here are the tacticians who must ensure that the fireworks of international flair and Indian domestic talent will explode on stage.
Luke Williams – Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
Defending champions of WPL, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be coached by Luke Williams, a former batter from South Australia. Williams seems to have brought some luck upon his arrival, as RCB stands to take over after the ex-coach, Ben Sawyer, had led the team to a disappointing fourth out of five teams, but staged a historic comeback to quench their thirst for a maiden franchise title in 2024.
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In a brief first-class playing career that spanned from 2000 to 2005, Williams built himself a budding reputation as a coach-the Adelaide Strikers-and-player in the WBBL. He led the team during four seasons, and after two runners-up finishes, he brought home a title in 2022-23. Williams was assistant coach to Southern Brave on their successful title run in the Women’s Hundred in 2023 and worked closely with England’s Charlotte Edwards. He has also done work with South Australian Scorpions in Australia’s Women’s National Cricket League.
Jonathan Batty (DC ) Delhi Capitals
Jonathan Batty will remain as head coach with the two-time runners-up-Delhi Capitals-looking to find a breakthrough past the Finals to eventually make a title. Batty has been hired to coach the Oval Invincibles women’s team for The Hundred titles in 2021 and 2022 and also at the Melbourne Stars in the WBBL and Surrey Women’s side. Bringing out his first-class numbers: a massive 9685 runs in 221 matches and 2992 runs in 209 List A matches.
With the association with the immortal Meg Lanning, the 50-year-old will look to dish out the right playing combination, lifting the confidence of the team in low times and inscribing his name again in the history of franchise-based cricket.
Jon Lewis -(UPW) UP Warriorz
Jon Lewis, the current head coach of the England women’s team, will continue to take on coaching duties for the UP Warriorz. Given that he has been with the franchise since the first season, the 2024 season proved a disappointment for him as the team could only manage a fourth-place finish. Lewis hasn’t had some good times with English training apparel too with a recent clean sweep of women cricket classis-16 by 0 during the multi-format Women’s Ashes, ending with a thrashing defeat in the one-off Test at the MCG.
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The veteran bowler certainly does not welcome any unwanted record to his name and plans to set things right in the Women’s Premier League (WPL). He is quite a successful player in first-class cricket with 849 wickets to his name.
Michael Klinger Gujarat Giants (GG)
Former Australian batter Michael Klinger will take over as head coach for the Gujarat Giants in WPL 2025. A splendid provincial batter from Australia, Klinger took over in 2024, replacing Rachael Haynes, but was unable to take a turn for the franchise. They won only 2 games and were at the bottom of the point tally.
Klinger now serves as the GM of Washington Freedom in MLC, also assisting in coaching Sydney Thunder in the WBBL. He had previously served as head of men’s T20 for Cricket NSW and had been head coach of Melbourne Renegades in the BBL from 2019 to 2021. The new skipper of the franchise is now Ashleigh Gardner, who will seek to develop the perfect team combination that should reinforce their strengths, avoid errors and provide their chance for the coveted trophy.
Charlotte Edward – Mumbai Indians (MI)
A first title for WPL was conquered by the high-flying Mumbai Indians with the aptly handled legendary English batter Charlotte Edwards. Edwards witnessed glory under the aegis of Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur that saw MI defeat the Delhi Capitals handily for the championship title in 2023. She has amassed 1676, 5992, and 2605 runs respectively from 23 test matches, 191 ODIs, and 95 T20Is. Edwards made her England debut as an oh-so-young 16-year-029-old in Guildford, versus New Zealand, and registered the record as being the youngest woman to appear for England.
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Edwards played a key role in the evolution of women’s cricket worldwide. MI has signed contemporary wicketkeeper-batter G Kamini and allrounders Nadine de Klerk, Akshita Maheshwari, and Sanskriti Gupta for the third edition of WPL to wear the blue and gold jersey. “Every player that comes in hopefully knows what’s expected of them. But it’s also a bit about our approach – aggressive approach we want from us every time we bat, bowl, or field. This is something we tried to share with all the players,” Edwards said at a press conference in Mumbai. “But equally, we have to be clear on what our strengths in the middle are.”
In the 2024 Eliminator, MI almost chased RCB, the future champions, down but fell short by five runs. With their captain out, the middle order only managed 16 runs from the last two overs they needed. She has also reached the pinnacle of coaching success in many English domestic competitions, including The Hundred, and into the Australian scene.
