Delhi Capitals Hold Slight Edge Over Royal Challengers Bangalore With Better Domestic Talent

Smriti Mandhana's languid grace will meet its match in Shafali Verma's brute power when Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Delhi Capitals in a WPL in Mumbai on Sunday. RCB have prepared a fantastic roster in terms of international recruits, including skipper Mandhana, who is the highest paid player of the league at Rs 3.40 crore. With Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight, Sophie Devine and the marauding Richa Ghosh in their ranks, the team does have a formidable look.

But on paper, the multiple World Cup-winning legendary Australian Meg Lanning's Delhi team will have a slight edge over their opponents in terms of pure Indian talent.

While Lanning along with Jess Jonasen, Marizanne Kapp and Alice Capsey are likely to be the four overseas players, DC's Indian line-up is both formidable and scary at the same time.

Shafali, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shikha Pandey, Poonam Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Taniya Bhatia, Radha Yadav are all seasoned India players.

In U-19 World Cup-winning seamer Titas Sadhu, hard-hitting Kashmir woman Jasia Akhtar and keeper Aparna Mondal in the mix, Delhi Capitals have procured the best possible Indian talent on offer.

"I have had a few chats with the players and I'm just getting to know their strengths, what they like to do and how they think about things. Hopefully, I can learn something from the girls and give them a little bit of knowledge as well," Lanning was quoted as saying in a DC release.

For Lanning's South African teammate Kapp, the match will see her battling it out with Dane Van Niekerk, who is in the RCB team.

"We've got a wonderful group of girls and let's see what everyone brings to the table. It'll be challenging to go against some of my fellow South Africans in the league as they know me very