Saika Ishaque

Injury sidelined her, but after a few technical adjustments and a lot of hard work - including against East Bengal's men - she just keeps on striking for ...

The left-arm spinner then struck a telling blow on the last ball by floating one up outside off and enticing Lanning to charge down and take the aerial route only for her to hit it to extra cover. "When I was the captain, there were a couple of instances where I have asked her if she would be able to pick up a tough wicket and she upfront used to say yes and did it too," Dhar said. Ahead of the WPL, Shibsagar took Ishaque to the East Bengal club to train with male cricketers. "I told her to focus on bowling one ball at a time and not think of the entire over or other stuff. Capitals were briefly buoyed by a fifty-run stand between Lanning and Jemimah Rodrigues - going from 31 for 3 to 81 for 3 - but then Ishaque was at it again. She has learnt how to respond to captains' and coaches' calls of bowling in specific areas and situations. I also told her to not try for wickets but concentrate on bowling in the right way. Ishaque, though, struck the first blow off her sixth ball, having Shafali play around a flighted delivery that was slanted into the stumps to bowl her. She did the hard yards at the Under-19 and Under-23 levels for Bengal before playing for the senior side. Watching some footage of her, Shibsagar observed that Ishaque was bowling very full and not letting the ball turn enough. [Saika Ishaque](https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/saika-ishaque-597815)'s voice was unmistakable as she put on the purple cap, having become the highest wicket-taker in the WPL with two strikes [against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday](https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/women-s-premier-league-2022-23-1348825/mumbai-indians-women-vs-royal-challengers-bangalore-women-4th-match-1358932/full-scorecard). She was introduced to the sport by her father, who passed away 15 years ago.

Ishaque has picked up nine wickets in three games and is the holder of the Purple Cap in WPL 2023.

These combined efforts pushed the Mumbai Indians to pick her in the WPL auction at the price of INR 10L. Ishaque hails from Kolkata and has represented Bengal in nearly all age group levels where she was among the top performers in the domestic circuit. The Mumbai Indians Women have dominated the inaugural WPL season as they have three wins out of three games in the tournament.

Hayley Matthews and Tara Norris are second and third, courtesy of their six wicket hauls. MI all rounders Amelia Kerr & Nat Sciver-Brunt make the top 10. Follow ...

– Saika Ishaque has played a huge role in MI’s rise to the top of the standings. 9 3 1 Hayley Matthews and Tara Norris are second and third, courtesy of their six wicket hauls.

Arguably, the best part of any elite franchise league is watching uncapped talents playing significant roles for their respective franchises.

[March 9, 2023] [#WPL2023] [March 9, 2023] Ishaque, aged 27 from West Bengal, immediately made an impact when Kaur asked her to bowl the second over of the innings. However, on Thursday, it did not happen in reality as Meg Lanning’s DC felt [Harmanpreet Kaur](https://sportscafe.in/cricket/player/harmanpreet_kaur)’s MI were too hot to handle while batting. [Mumbai Indians](https://sportscafe.in/cricket/team/mumbai_indians) and Delhi Capitals to be a thrilling affair, given the fact that both sides began the competition with resounding back-to-back victories. Arguably, the best part of any elite franchise league is watching uncapped talents playing significant roles for their respective franchises.