‘I look foolish’ – Nayar admits batting shuffle misfire in UP Warriorz’s second loss

Abhishek Nayar attributed UP Warriorz’s (UPW) batting-order shuffle to opposition-based tactics and acknowledged that the decision to send Harleen Deol to open the batting against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) was a wrong one, taking full responsibility for it. Kiran Navgire, who had started in their opening game, was pushed down to No. 4.

“We felt that with the moving ball at that point, Harleen could add a bit of value in the powerplay,” Nayar said after UPW lost their second successful match in WPL 2026. “She’s obviously technically correct. It didn’t work out today. I felt it turned out to be the wrong decision. I take full responsibility for it. But I think the thought process behind it was having some solidity up top and then hopefully having that power later on as the pitch gets better, because we anticipated a bit of swing initially. I thought those match-ups for Kiran Navgire in the middle would work. [But they] didn’t work today.

Navgire fell for 1 off 4 balls in UPW’s 208-run chase against Gujarat Giants, while Deol recorded a two-ball duck. However, Phoebe Litchfield’s 78, followed by lower-order cameos, helped UPW get closure as they lost by just ten runs. One of those cameos came from Shweta Sehrawat, who scored a 17-ball 25 with three sixes and a four. Batting at No. 6, she hit the first ball she faced – from Renuka Singh – for a six over extra cover.

To prepare for this role with UPW, Sehrawat, a natural top-order batter, beaten in the middle order in domestic cricket. She scored 144.57 in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy and 157.89 in the Women’s Under-23 T20 Trophy. After joining the UPW camp, she was also handed an additional role – wicketkeeping.

“For her career, I think it’s a great step moving forward

” Nayar said. “Giving her the gloves, in my head, was a KL Rahul sort of move, where it brightens her chances of making it to the India squad, especially seeing that there aren’t a lot of options. She’s a tremendous batter with a lot of capability, power and flair. She has been working on a couple of shots, and we’ve seen that in practice matches and during her preparation. But it was good to see a sample size of it in a game. I have a lot more expectations from her throughout the season because I truly believe she has the potential to don the India colors and do exceedingly well.

“In 15 days of practice, she has been keeping Sophie Ecclestone, Deepti Sharma and Asha [Sobhana]. So with a little more keeping under her belt, I really feel she can be a great prospect for the Indian women’s team.”

Against RCB, Deol couldn’t put away Lauren Bell, facing nine dot balls during her 14-ball stay before mistaking a shot to mid-off. Navgire, meanwhile, made 5 off 3 balls before holing out to deep midwicket. Her dismissal was part of a collapse in which UPW lost four wickets for 11 runs to slide to 50 for 5. Deepti Sharma and Deandra Dottin then batted through the remainder of the innings to take the team to 143 for 5.

“In today’s game, you can’t talk too much about the batting order because we lost wickets in heaps,” Nayar said. “In our minds, it was quite simple. Everyone had their roles clear. But when you lose so many wickets, what role? You just have to go out and play.

“For me, in T20 cricket, the numbers after your top three don’t really matter. The top three today was a call based on the opposition. Although I believe in having players play set roles, I also felt that today it didn’t work out. But that doesn’t mean Harleen can’t do it, or that Kiran cannot do it. It just didn’t work out today. If she had scored 100, we’d be having a different conversation.”

Royal Challengers Bengaluru 145 for 1 (Harris 85, Mandhana 47) beat UP Warriorz 143 for 5 (Deepti 45, Dottin 40*, de Klerk 2–28, Patil 2–50) by nine wickets

They started with a scrappy last-ball win to kick off WPL 2026, but there was nothing scrappy about Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) second win, over UP Warriorz, on Monday night.

Grace Harris tore into her former franchise with a impressive assault, sending the ball to all parts of the DY Patil Stadium. By the time she was out for a 40-ball 85, RCB needed just seven runs to win with 50 deliveries remaining.

Bell’s perfect start

In an effort similar to her opening-night honours, Lauren Bell swings the new ball and troubled Warriorz’s openers in her first two overs. In trying to break the stranglehold, Harleen Deol tried to jailbreak in her third, but could only spoon a catch to Smriti Mandhana at mid-off for a 14-ball 11. And just like that, UP Warriorz had seen two different opening pairs come and go without giving them the start they were after.

Patil’s twin strikes

She was denied a wicket in her first over – the sixth of the innings – when Meg Lanning’s swipe landed agonizingly short of Arundhati Reddy at backward square leg, but Shreyanka Patil had Lanning uncharacteristically hack to Radha Yadav at deep midwicket off her next.

In the same over, she also had a second wicket when Phoebe Litchfield flat-batted a short ball straight to Mandhana at mid-on, briefly after having reverse-swept her for six.

De Klerk’s dream run continues

Coming off a four-for and an unbeaten half-century against Mumbai Indians, de Klerk started with two wickets off her first two deliveries. Kiran Navgire fell first when she heaved a length ball to cow corner, while Shweta Sehrawat was brilliantly caught at backward point by Reddy. Warriorz were in all kinds of trouble at 50 for 5.

Deepti-Dottin rescue UP

This was the perfect fire-and-ice combo on paper. But on Monday, they were both mellower and batted risk-free for much of their unbeaten 93-run partnership. Deandra Dottin signaled a change of intent when she went after Patil in her third over – the 15th – by muscular a length ball for six over long-on. That galvanized both batters to break free; Deepti Sharma gave the perfect finish by going after Patil in a 15-run final over that helped them finish with 143.

Harris goes hammer and tongs

With two rookies in their top four, RCB could’ve chosen to play safe by having Gautami Naik partner Mandhana. But they took the aggressive route, and Harris justified that decision by muscular a 22-ball half-century as RCB wiped out 78 in the powerplay alone.

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