New Delhi, Feb 18 (IANS): Chamari Athapaththu will miss the final phase of the ongoing Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025 for UP Warriorz (UPW) as she is set to join the Sri Lankan team for a white-ball tour of New Zealand starting March 4 in Napier.
Her departure will be the second major setback for UPW, who are already without their regular captain, Alyssa Healy, due to injury.
As per ESPNcricinfo report, Athapaththu will be available for UPW until February 26, which includes four more matches, before she departs for national duties. After their February 26 game against Mumbai Indians in Bengaluru, UPW will travel to Lucknow for the final league phase of the tournament, where they will play three home matches. The team has only played one game so far, in which they left Athapaththu out of the XI, resulting in a loss to Gujarat Giants.
Athapaththu was named the captain of Sri Lanka's 16-member squad, which was announced by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Monday. The team is set to depart for New Zealand on February 22 for three ODIs and three T20Is.
Amelia Kerr, the only New Zealand player in the WPL this season, will miss the upcoming bilateral series to play the entire WPL, including the knockout stages if Mumbai Indians qualify. Should MI reach the final, scheduled for March 15, Kerr will also miss the first two T20Is against New Zealand, slated for March 14 and 16 in Christchurch. Last year, Kerr had also opted out of the T20I series against England to stay available for the full duration of the WPL.
In 2024, the clash between the final stages of the WPL and the T20I series in New Zealand became a significant issue, as England’s Heather Knight (RCB) and Lauren Bell (UPW) chose to skip the WPL entirely to represent their national teams. Athapaththu had replaced Bell in the UPW squad during that period.
In response to such scheduling conflicts, boards like the ECB have assured players that international fixtures will not coincide with the WPL in the future. The WPL is set to move from its current February-March window to January-February from 2026 onwards, according to the new women’s Future Tours Programme (FTP). To prevent similar clashes between international series and T20 leagues, the FTP has created separate windows for the Hundred (August) and the WBBL (November) through 2029.