The Indian duo of Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma has been signed as replacement players by Sydney Thunder for the upcoming season of the Women's Big Bash League. They will be replacing England batters Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont as Thunder look to pursue their second successive title. Mandhana, coming off her highest ODI score of the year, is set to play for her third WBBL club after previous stints with Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes. Sharma has never played in the WBBL but has experience in domestic T20 leagues. She featured in the women's competition of the inaugural Hundred, for London Spirit, claiming 10 wickets at an economy rate of 5.26 and, along with Mandhana, was part of Western Storm's title-winning 2019 campaign at the now-defunct Kia Super League.
Trevor Griffin, the head coach of Thunder, who had also previously worked with the pair at Storm, said, "While it's disappointing not to be able to have Heather back, if you could choose any replacement for her it would be Deepti - she's also a star. She offers a lot with the bat - Deepti is a match-winner - and she also has the talent to bowl in the powerplay, during the middle of a match, or at the death." Smriti is an opening batter who has the tremendous ability to take everything in her stride. I like that she keeps her game really simple; she just wants to score runs. I'm delighted to have her on board, and I have no doubt that she'll prove to be a great addition to Thunder."
Speaking of the opportunity, Mandhana said, "Playing in overseas leagues gives you a lot of experience, especially in the T20 format," Mandhana said. "Then, of course, you exchange so much experience with each other... with all the players from over the world... so you get to learn a lot. Rather than 'pressure', I always look at it as an opportunity to learn, and to get used to that pressure because it only builds when you play international cricket. "Deepti added that the WBBL experience will prove to be a critical step forward. "This is my first time [in the WBBL], so I'm excited," Sharma said. "I've had offers before, but I couldn't play at the time because at the time we had [an international] series. The WBBL begins on October 14, following India's ongoing multi-format series against Australia, with the first 20 matches to be played in Tasmania.
