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Chamari Athapaththu To Skip Part Of WPL 2025; Set To Lead Sri Lanka Against NZ

Arnav Chopra

Chamari Athapaththu (Source: @ICC/X.com, @WPLt20/X.com)Chamari Athapaththu (Source: @ICC/X.com, @WPLt20/X.com)

Women's Premier League (WPL) side UP Warriorz (UPW) will receive another blow in the coming days as their Sri Lankan all-rounder, Chamari Athapaththu, has decided to leave the ongoing tournament to commit to her international duties. Chamari, also the Sri Lankan skipper, will travel to New Zealand for the white-ball series beginning March 4th. 

Chamari Athapaththu To Miss Some Part Of WPL 2025

Currently dealing with Alyssa Healy's withdrawal due to injury, the UP Warriorz side will have a lot to face in the coming days as they will be missing the services of their all-rounder Chamari Athapaththu. 

The news coming in is that Athapaththu will be available only till February 26th, meaning she only has four more games remaining in this year's WPL 2025. The UP Warriorz side will play against the Mumbai Indians Women (MIW) in Bengaluru, after which they will then arrive at their home in Lucknow. However, without Athapaththu, who will be flying to Napier for Sri Lanka Women's tour of New Zealand, comprising three ODIs and three T20Is.

The Sri Lankan side will leave for New Zealand on February 22nd, while Athapaththu will be departing after February 26th as UP, by then, would have played their fifth game of the season, whereas she will miss all the home games for UP Warriorz.

Moreover, in the last game against the Gujarat Giants, which Warriorz lost, Athapaththu did not feature in the XI. 

Amelia Kerr To Stay In MI Setup

On the other hand, for the Mumbai Indians women's side, their all-rounder Amelia Kerr will be available for the entire duration of the league, as she will be missing the bilateral series against Sri Lanka. Kerr will be available throughout the tournament, even if MI makes it through to the knockouts. 

Previously, Amelia missed the entire T20I series last year against England to be available for the entirety of WPL 2024. The issue previously arrived for the RCB and UPW sides as their English players, Heather Knight and Lauren Bell, withdrew from the tournament completely to focus on their bilateral commitments.

However, on a positive note, things have changed since last year, as the ECB has assured us that there will be no international matches during the WPL season. 

Additionally, there were discussions among ICC full members as they released the women's Future Tour Programs (FTP), where the WPL has been given the January-February window in the 2026 edition, as it will move from its current February-March window from next year onwards.

The Hundred Women's League and the Women's Big Bash League have also been allotted separate windows in August and November, respectively.