UP Warriorz head coach Abhishek Nayar reacts after UPW built a strong squad with the biggest purse in WPL 2027 Auction, praises Neetu David and Sushma Verma.
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UP Warriorz head coach Abhishek Nayar (Photo: UPWarriorz)
UP Warriorz were the busiest team in the TATA WPL 2027 AuctionThe franchise came with the biggest purse and bought many top players to make their squad strong for the new season.
UP Warriorz added star players like Sophie Molineux, Grace Harris, Sneh Rana and Sushma Verma among othersAfter the auction, UPW head coach Abhishek Nayar spoke on JioStar’s ‘Match Centre Live Auction Special’ about the new squad, the addition of Neetu David to the support staff and why they signed Sushma Verma.
Read more:
WPL 2027 Full Squads: Check complete list of MI, RCB, DC, GG and UPW after mini auction in Kochi
Abhishek Nayar says squad looks good on paper, real test will be on field
Talking about the squad after the auction, UP Warriorz head coach Abhishek Nayar said the team looks very good on paper but the real challenge will be on the field.
He shared his thoughts and said, “I always think it’s like going shoppingOn the mannequin, the clothes look very good, but when you buy and wear them yourself, they look very differentSo, at the moment, the squad on paper, seeing the names on the board, looks very good, but it will depend a lot on what happens on the fieldMy challenge with women’s cricket last year, which I felt, was that you get very little time with the players before the season because the domestic season is going on, and those players, and even the internationals, come just a few days before the startSo, you get roughly one week with themSo, we are hoping that the experienced players will take up the mantleAs much as the selection headache will be there, in the T20 format, form matters the most.”
Nayar also said that in T20 cricket, current form will be more important than names and he hopes senior players will take responsibility.
Abhishek Nayar praises Neetu David as head of scouting
UP Warriorz also added former chief selector Neetu David as Head of Scouting and Abhishek Nayar praised her a lot for her knowledge of domestic players.
Speaking about her addition, he said, “Neetu David is unbelievableI was discussing this with our owner, Jinisha, about thisShe has been a solid support system, especially with domestic playersWhen you enquire about them, she is aware of most of themSo, at the time of the auction, knowledge about domestic players makes it easy for us to pick foreign playersShe actually didn’t want to come; she was feeling a bit shy to come in front of the cameraBut we insisted that she be with us at the tableShe has been outstanding so far and, being with her and working with her, I’m also learning a lot more about WPL.”
He said Neetu David has been a big support and her knowledge helped the team to pick the right foreign players as well.
Why UP Warriorz signed Sushma Verma? Abhishek Nayar explains
On signing experienced wicketkeeper-batter Sushma Verma, the UPW head coach said the team was looking for more experience this time.
He said last season they tried with Shweta Sehrawat but it did not work, so this time they wanted an experienced player.
“We were looking for experienceLast season, we experimented with Shweta and, to a large extent, it didn’t work outSo, this time around, we thought that we’d try and get someone experiencedWe were looking at SushmaShe did well for TKR, playing in the Women’s CPLSo, we were tracking herShe had batted well in our trials as wellSo, the thought process for this season was to get more experienced hands in the team and then leave it to Meg Lanning to take care of the restI have felt that experience counts a lot in the WPLIn women’s cricket, for me, going towards experience and having someone like Sushma as that experienced keeper-batter adds a lot to our team in a lot of ways, and we are extremely happy to have her.”
TATA WPL 2027 live streaming and telecast details
Fans can catch all the live action from TATA WPL 2027 from January 14 to February 7, live on JioHotstar and Star Sports Network.
