After losing the services of their captain Alyssa Healy, UP Warriorz have suffered a fresh blow as their star Sri Lankan recruit Chamari Athapaththu is set to leave the franchise midway through Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025. Athapththu will lead Sri Lanka in the limited-overs series against New Zealand which will commence on March 4.
As per a report by ESPNCricinfo, Athapaththu will be available for Deepti Sharma-led UP Warriorz until February 26. This means that she will leave after fourth match of the season for UP Warriorz which is against inaugural WPL Champions Mumbai Indians (MI).
Meanwhile, the rest of the Sri Lanka's 16-member squad will leave for New Zealand on February 22.
On the other hand, New Zealand's star all-rounder Amelia Kerr is set to miss the ODI series at home. She will also miss the first two T20Is if MI reach the final. This is not the first time she had opted to play WPL ahead of T20Is. In the last season, she did not play the T20I series against England at home.
No place for Athapaththu in playing XI
In UP Warriorz's first match of the season against Gujarat Giants, Athapaththu did not make the cut as their four overseas players were Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Alana King and Sophie Ecclestone. UP Warriorz managed to post 143/9 on the board. Gujarat Giants captain Ashleigh Gardner's 32-ball 52 and unbeaten cameos from Harleen Deol (34) and Deandra Dottin (30) helped them win by six wickets with two overs to spare.
In the previous season, she played four matches and scored just 28 runs. With the ball, she claimed three wickets. She was unsold in the auction but came in as replacement for England's Lauren Bell who opted out of the tournament to represent England.
UP Warriorz full squad for WPL 2025
Chinelle Henry, Anjali Sarvani, Deepti Sharma (c), Grace Harris, Kiran Navgire, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shweta Sehrawat, Sophie Ecclestone, Tahlia McGrath, Vrinda Dinesh, Saima Thakor, Poonam Khemnar, Gouher Sultana, Chamari Athapaththu, Uma Chetry, Arushi Goel, Kranti Goud, Alana King