Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav set for maiden WBBL venture with Sydney Sixers

India Women's cricket team opener Shafali Verma and Radha Yadav will extend their stay in Australia after being signed by the Sydney Sixers for the upcoming season of WBBL. Earlier, ESPNcricinfo had reported that the 17-year-old Shafali Verma, had signed a two-year deal for the Sydney Sixers WBBL campaign for the next two seasons. For Radha Yadav and Shafali Verma, this will be their maiden stint in the WBBL. 

WBBL bound Indian players looking to stamp their mark in the tournament 

Shafali Verma who recently scored a half-century in India's win over Australia will form a lethal combination with Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry and Ash Gardner at the top of the order for the Sydney Sixers WBBL team. Sydney Sixers coach Ben Sawyers is already a fan of the youngster having watched her play for the Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred where he was the head coach of the team. Sawyers said, “Shafali is very impressive. She’s such a talent and she’s fearless, She hits to different areas of the field and plays shots that are different to the other three girls in that top four. The experience I had with her in Birmingham was that she wants to learn, she wants to get better and she wants to grow as a player and a person".

Besides Shafali Verma and Radha Yadav, the other two Indian players who were snapped up for the WBBL 2021 tournament are Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma. Mandhana and Sharma have been signed by defending champions Sydney Thunder for the WBBL 2021 with the Indian duo replacing England's Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont. Mandhana has had previous experience of playing in the WBBL with Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes. On the other hand, for Sharma, this is her first WWBL but she has experience in domestic T20 leagues such as the Hundred.

WBBL 2021 schedule

Coming to WBBL 2021 schedule, the league will have its usually 59 game format and will be taken back to the fans around the country with the matches to return to metro and regional venues in all six states as the schedule reverts to its national, festival-based structure after the WBBL season six was played entirely in a biosecure hub in Sydney. A three-game, top four Finals series remains. The Finals series matches will be played on November 23 and November 24. A record 47 matches are to be broadcasted nationally on television this year, almost a five-fold increase since the league's inception seven years ago.