Meet Ahliya Chandel who joined Delhi Capitals in WPL 2025, She is first to…., Only one of four bowlers to…

Meet Ahliya Chandel, the newest addition to Delhi Capitals in WPL 2025. She is the first to achieve a unique feat and one of four bowlers to…

New Delhi: The question has been raised on every cricket fan’s mind ever since Women’s Premier League (WPL) side Delhi Capitals announced that the Japan international has joined the franchise as a net bowler.

Though being a net bowler doesn’t quite constitute being in the squad, the role, in the past, has often been a gateway into one.

For instance, the likes of Kumar Kartikeya, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar, and several others, started off as net bowlers for different franchises and made a successful IPL careers for themselves when the opportunity came.

Being with the DC squad during WPL 2025 will also present Ahilya Chandel with a chance of breaking into the squad in case of any injuries provided she impresses in the nets.

Ahilya Chandel’s is a player from an associate nation that adds to her strategic value because of the WPL foreign players rule which states that a team can field a maximum of only five foreign players as long as one of them is an associate player.

The cap on fielding overseas players from full member nations, meanwhile, is four.

If such an opportunity arrives, Chandel will become the first-ever player from Japan – male or female – to land a contract with a major global T20 franchisee league.

Even if an opportunity doesn’t come, training alongside international stars like Jemimah Rodrigues, Meg Lanning and Shafali Verma in the DC nets will be invaluable for Chandel’s development and the growth of Japanese cricket.

Ahilya Chandel’s work ethic already has Delhi Capitals head coach Jonathan Betty impressed, who called the Japanese player an absolute gem.

“She has been great. She’s been a real bundle of energy and joy. She’s really bought in to the environment,” Betty told India TV. “She has knowledge and decent learning about playing in different conditions and for her to come over here is really special. She’s part of our support bowling unit and we are carrying for her the tournament as well.”

Who is Ahilya Chandel?
Ahilya Chandel was born on January 10, 2003, to an Indian father and a Japanese mother. Her dad’s roots as an Indian and passion for cricket were instrumental in setting Ahilya Chandel off on the cricketing path.

A left-arm pacer who spent a lot of time playing cricket in Australia, Ahilya Chandel made her international debut for the Japan women’s cricket team on October 27, 2022, in a WT20I against Hong Kong China in the Women’s East Asia Cup.

She finished with figures of 0/21 in the match but has since established herself as the team’s frontline pacer and Japan’s highest wicket-taker of all time in women’s T20 cricket.