Delhi Capitals (DC) co-owner Parth Jindal (November 27) confirmed that star South African batter Laura Wolvaardt will not be captaining the franchise in the 2026 edition of Women’s Premier League (WPL), reiterating that the management is eyeing an Indian player for the leadership role.

The Capitals were led by former Australian captain Meg Lanning in the first three WPL seasons. She did an exceptional job, leading the team to three consecutive finals, but the trophy remained elusive.

Ahead of the WPL 2026 mega auction, DC surprisingly let go of Lanning, considering her performance over the years as well as her captaincy.

At the mega auction, UP Warriorz pipped Delhi Capitals to secure the services of Meg Lanning for Rs 1.9 crore.

Speaking at the mid-auction press conference, Jindal said, “We are very clear we want an Indian as captain. We have our minds made up."

Wolvaardt entered the auction with a base price of Rs 30 lakh and after a mini-battle with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, DC roped her in for Rs 1.1 crore.

“We think Laura can fill Lanning’s boots. Our spin attack is even better than last time. Looks like a very balanced team. We missed some explosiveness last year, which we have in Chinelle Henry now," Jindal said.

With Wolvaardt out of the equation and no other captaincy contenders bought at the auction, Jemimah Rodrigues seems to be the leading option for skipper role.

Jindal sees “one or two new teams” being added to the WPL in the near future, allowing the BCCI to move to the “ideal” home and away format.

“We would love to see the WPL home and away as well, this caravan format is okay, but it’s not ideal. I’m sure that the BCCI is working on it. The amount of time that they get is very short and that’s why in order to, to fit the WPL within this window but I hope we get a bigger longer window for the WPL going forward,” said Jindal while responding to a PTI query.

“And it is imminent that, either one or two new teams will come in at some point. And that’s why I think the cycle is such a short cycle with two WPLs over 14 months.

“So I’m pretty sure that the BCCI is planning on adding a team, and maybe with that addition, we move home and away. That would be ideal for the fans, for the game, and for the growth of the WPL,” he added.

Jindal is confident that the recent Women’s ODI World Cup triumph will push the sport’s popularity to unprecedented levels.

“Three years ago, we all owners took a leap of faith into the women’s game and we’re so thrilled that we did that. And for us, when the bidding happened, we were very clear that this is a spot that is only going to go from strength to strength.

“I wrote it in one of my tweets as well that this World Cup win in 2025 is the 1983 movement for women’s cricket. The interest in the WPL this season is going to be like it’s never been before,” Jindal said.

(With inputs from agencies)