Saika Ishaque. (Photo Source: Jio Cinema)

Hailing from Bengal, left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque stunned everyone with her brilliant performances in the ongoing Women’s Premier League (WPL). Playing for Mumbai Indians, the 27-year-old has clinched 12 wickets in five matches and with that, she also is the leading wicket-taker of the tournament. Even though she hasn’t made her international debut yet, Saika showed a lot of maturity in the middle, bowling in the powerplays and picking crucial wickets from time to time.

Former India selector Saba Karim is thus very impressed with the bowler and hailed her for taking a lot of responsibility in the middle. The 55-year-old also talked about her temperament and believes that the spinner has grown a lot as the tournament progressed.

“Well, I looked at some of the young domestic talents. Saika Ishaque has been highly impressive, she comes from Bengal. A left arm-spinner and good to see her taking so much responsibility. On so many occasions, I think in all the MI games she has bowled in the powerplay, which is not an easy task. And there have been some interesting battles between Saika Ishaque and some of the top overseas batters. And the way she has grown as the tournament has progressed, it’s been wonderful to see her growth as a left-arm spinner and also as a player in terms of temperament,” Karim was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

Saba Karim impressed with Meg Lanning’s captaincy in WPL

Under the able leadership of Meg Lanning, Delhi Capitals have managed to win four out of their five matches in the tournament so far. The skipper led by example, scoring 221 runs in five matches and with that, she also is the leading run-scorer of the tournament. In the meantime, Saba Karim stated that he is really impressed with Lanning’s captaincy and the way she has conducted herself as a batter and a leader.

“I’m very impressed by Meg Lanning. I think the way she has led the Delhi Capitals franchise – It is not easy for an overseas player to come in and take that kind of responsibility. I’m sure that she has a decent core of people to help her. But decision-making on the field, the way she has moved around her players, the kind of rotation of bowlers when I see, and the way she has conducted herself as a batter and captain have been remarkable,” the former cricketer concluded.

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