UP Warriorz have named Meg Lanning as the captain of their team ahead of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 that is scheduled to begin from January 9. The Australian batter was signed by Warriorz for Rs 1.9 crore at the auction. She was previously part of Delhi Capitals and led them to three consecutive final appearances.
In the auction, UP Warriorz were the top teams who spent a total of Rs. 14.15 crore filling their team with 18 players. Their highest bid was on India Women’s all-rounder Deepti Sharma for INR 3.2 crore. They managed to sign her back by using the Right to Match (RTM) option. As part of the ODI Women’s ODI World Cup-winning squad, Deepti led Warriorz last season as their skipper in place of Alyssa Healy, who was out due to an injury.
With seven World Cup titles, Lanning last featured in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) 2025 playing for the Melbourne Stars Women. She ended her campaign as the second-highest scorer of the tournament with 479 runs scored in 11 innings and at an average of 53.22.
In the three WPL seasons played for the Delhi Capitals Women’s team, from 2022-25, Lanning has amassed 952 runs in 27 matches at a strike rate of 127.10. In the inaugural season, she scored 345 runs in nine matches at a strike rate of 139.11. In the following season in 2023-24, she added 331 runs scored at a strike rate of 123.04. Last season, she scored 276 runs at a strike rate of 11.96. Moving ahead for her fourth season, this time it will be WP Warriorz, which she will be leading as the captain.
Following the announcement of her captaincy with Warriorz, Lanning expressed her happiness to receive the opportunity to play alongside the talented team and is looking forward to working with them.
“It is a real honour to be named captain of the UP Warriorz. As the WPL enters its fourth season, it’s been incredible to see how the league has evolved, the quality of cricket, the competitiveness, and the emergence of exciting new talent continue to raise the standard each year. This is a talented group with a strong mix of international experience and Indian players, and I’m really looking forward to the challenge ahead. We’ll work hard together and give ourselves every opportunity to lift the trophy.”
UP Warriorz WPL 2026 Squad:
Shweta Sehrawat, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone, Meg Lanning, Phoebe Litchfield, Kiran Navgire, Harleen Deol, Kranti Goud, Asha Sobhana, Deandra Dottin, Shikha Pandey, Shipra Giri, Simran Shaikh, Tara Norris, Chloe Tryon, Suman Meena, G Trisha, Pratika Rawal
