Meg Lanning to Lead UP Warriorz with Deepti, Sophie as Key Pillars

Lanning, a multi-time World Cup-winning icon for Australia, both as a batter and a leader, was unveiled as the franchise's captain on Sunday. Ahead of the tournament, the captain-coach duo of Lanning and Abhishek Nayar held a media interaction in Navi Mumbai on Monday.

Speaking as quoted by ESPNCricinfo to the media, Lanning said that she learnt a lot from her three-year stint as Delhi Capitals (DC) captain.

"I certainly learnt a lot in my experience with Delhi. Coming into a new franchise, you do not really know how things operate or how individuals work. A really important part of the initial week or so is getting used to that. And that's what I have tried to focus on here in my first few days - just trying to get to know everybody."

"I am struggling a little bit with all the names. I am trying to remember all of them, but I am also trying to understand people's roles, how it all works, and what I can input into and make an impact on, and then some areas where I just need to let people do their jobs. I do not want to be in control over everything, but try to bring different people's perspectives and give them confidence to be able to execute their roles," she added.

Lanning also expressed her admiration for the 2025 Women's WC-winning all-rounder and 'Player of the Tournament' in both the 2025 WC and the 2024 WPL, Deepti, hailing her "impact on the game and how she improved her game".

"She has always been such a good player but for her to have that drive to keep getting better and want to be the best is very important to someone at this level. She has been part of the franchise from the start, so she is very important on and off the field, and I am looking forward to playing with her again. I have done that in the past and always enjoyed it. I'll be leaning on her a little bit, and Sophie Ecclestone as well, who has been around a lot, to work out how we go about it. I'll be leaning on those players to learn as much as I can and understand what the franchise is about, but also trying to move us forward and put my own spin on it," she added.

With pacer Kranti Gaud, batter Pratika Rawal and batter G Trisha among some of the most promising Indian youngsters in the side and India's World Cup-winning stars Shree Charani and Gaud having made it to the World Cup because of the WPL, Lanning is left impressed by the depth of Indian talent emerging and how the tournament has exposed them to high-pressure situations.

"The biggest thing that I have seen is just the depth and the amount of Indian players who are able to contribute and win games for their teams," she said. "The early part of the tournament was probably reliant on the internationals as a fair bit and the big Indian players, whereas now you've got contributions from a number of different people and they're putting pressure on the big stars, which is really good to see. One of the biggest points is just that you have got so many more players now who can perform at the level required."

"The other thing is just exposing more players to high-pressure situations. That's what the WPL has done. There is a lot of eyes watching every game, and there is a lot of increased media attention and things like that. So the more you do that, the more you get used to it and the better you get. We have seen that throughout the three tournaments that everyone is getting used to that a little bit more and sort of thriving under those conditions," she concluded.

Delhi Capitals have reached the final in all three seasons under the captaincy of Lanning, a multi-time World Cup-winning captain for Australia, but surprisingly did not win in any season, losing to MI by seven wickets and RCB by eight wickets in one-sided matches and then to MI by eight runs last season in a closely contested match, failing to chase down 150 runs.

Lanning is the third-highest run-getter in WPL history, with 952 runs in 27 matches and innings at an average of 39.66, a strike rate of over 127 and nine fifties and a best score of 92. With a record 17 international centuries and over 8,300 runs, she is considered one of the finest batters of all time.

The Australian great, who won a whopping five ICC Women's T20 World Cup titles and two ICC Women's Cricket World Cup trophies, six of those as captain, announced sudden retirement from international cricket last year at the age of 31 in 2023.

UP Warriorz, which finished at the bottom of the points table last season with just three wins in eight matches, will start their campaign against Gujarat Giants from January 10 onwards.

- ANI