"Like Class 10 Student...": Parth Jindal's Honest Admission On WPL Auction

Delhi Capitals started slow at the Women's Premier League auction on Monday but were able to end up with a solid squad with big names like Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma and Australia legend Meg Lanning. While the action played out mostly in their favour, Delhi Capitals chairman and co-owner Parth Jindal said that it was a challenge for him and his team to prepare for the auction as most of the players were unknown to him. Jemimah ended up being the costliest player for the Delhi franchise with Rs 2.2 crore while the U-19 Women's World Cup winner Shafali Verma was bought for Rs 2 crore.   

"It was extremely rushed; we didn't have much time to prepare. Everything is happening very fast. The teams are going to assemble very quickly and the matches are also going start in two weeks' time. To be honest, it was a new experience for me personally. I am a follower of the women's game but apart from the Indian team and a couple of the legendary players, I did not know many names. Some of the skill sets are more competitive than men's cricket. Overall, it has been an amazing learning experience. I felt like a class 10 student trying to learn entire year's syllabus in last nine days,” Jindal explained. 

The presence of Meg Lanning has prompted most experts to point at her as the obvious captaincy option but Jindal explained that the final decision on the matter will rest with the head coach Jonathan Batty and the management. 

“It's too early for that but there are captaincy options in these names - one is U19 captain of India, one is the legend of the game Meg Lanning, Jemimah (Rodrigues) too is a wonderful reader of the game. It all depends on the coach in the end and it depends on who else we pick up. (On DC's strategy),” he said. 

Delhi Capitals: Jemimah Rodrigues, Meg Lanning, Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Marizanne Kapp, Titas Sadhu, Alice Capsey, Tara Norris, Laura Harris, Jasia Akther, Minnu Mani, Taniya Bhatia, Jess Jonassen, Sneha Deepthi, Poonam Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Aparna Mondal.