UP Warriorz’ WPL 2026 campaign came to a disappointing end after a five-wicket defeat against Delhi Capitals, with head coach Abhishek Nayar admitting it was a season where it was difficult to pinpoint exactly what went wrong.

It was a strange and stop-start campaign for UPW. They managed just two wins from eight matches, though those victories came against the Mumbai Indians in Navi Mumbai, a rare double over the two-time champions that no team had achieved before this season. However, defeats in all three matches during the Vadodara leg proved costly and ultimately knocked them out of the tournament.

Injury blow, inconsistency and missed chances derail UP Warriors, says Abhishek Nayar

“We got some momentum when we won those two games in Navi Mumbai. Then we came to Baroda and lost Phoebe. [Litchfield],” Nayar said at the post-match press conference. “That changed the balance of the side. Replacing someone who had scored nearly 250 runs by that stage of the season was never easy. In the business end of a tournament, you want your in-form players available, and our No. 3 slot didn’t look the same after that.”

Despite winning only two matches, UPW remained mathematically in contention for a spot in the Eliminator until the final league game. They needed a near-impossible 156-run win against DC something unheard of in women’s T20 cricket, especially on the slower Kotambi Stadium surface. UPW were restricted to 122, dropped four catches while defending the total three of Laura Wolvaardt, and failed to capitalize on DC’s middle-order collapse.

“We just haven’t been consistent enough,” captain Meg Lanning said after the match. “We’ve had phases where we put teams under pressure, but then gave it back too easily. It’s about sustaining that intensity for longer.”

One of UPW’s biggest concerns throughout the season was the opening combination. Kiran Navgire, who entered the tournament on the back of a strong domestic season, struggled to find form and recorded three ducks in six innings. UPW experimented with three opening pairs, the second-most by any team this season, including brief stints for Harleen Deol and later Deepti Sharma.

“When your top order fires in T20 cricket, you generally do well,” Nayar said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t click for Kiran this season. Sending Deepti to open wasn’t a random call, it was based on match-ups. Lauren Bell doesn’t have great numbers against left-handers, and without Phoebe, we needed someone to take her on in the power play. Whether it’s a long-term solution, I’m not sure.”

Despite the team’s struggles, Lanning had a reasonable campaign by most standards but an inconsistent one by her own. She finished as the fourth-highest run-scorer after the league stage with 248 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 125.25, her lowest tally in a WPL season. It also marked the first time a Lanning-led side failed to progress beyond the league stage.

“I’m still thoroughly enjoying my cricket,” Lanning said. “I’m competitive, I love winning, and that fire is still there. I’ll be back next year and hopefully for a bit longer after that.”

Another storyline was the development of Shweta Sehrawat. Nayar pushed her into a middle-order role and encouraged her to take up wicketkeeping, a move he described as “a KL Rahul-type decision” aimed at improving her chances of national selection. However, Sehrawat managed just 46 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 97.87 and was eventually dropped in favor of Railways wicketkeeper Shipra Giri.

“I’ve been very clear with her,” Nayar said. “Retention doesn’t guarantee anything. We know what Shweta can do, but when it doesn’t work over a season, you have to look at other options.”