WPL 2025: UP Warriorz Rope in Australian Opener as Replacement For New Zealand-Bound Chamari Athapaththu

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UP Warriorz on Thursday (February 27) cofirmed the signing of Australian opener Georgia Voll as a replacement for New Zealand-bound Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu, who is set to miss the remainder of WPL 2025 due to national commitments.

Athapaththu, who did not feature in the five matches for UP Warriorz so far this season, is forced to leave the WPL midway through the season as Sri Lanka women's cricket team travels to New Zealand for six white-ball games, starting with the three-match ODI series on March 4.

Athapaththu, one of the top women's white-ball all-rounders, herself arrived to the WPL in season 2 as a replacement signing for England's Lauren Bell. The 35-year-old was retained ahead of season 3, but did not get a game, having made four appearances for 28 runs and 3 wickets in her first stint in 2024.

Now, the Sri Lanka is being replaced by Voll, who has played for Australia in the limited overs formats in the absence of her compatriot and UP Warriorz skipper Alyssa Healy, who also pulled out of the Women's Premier League due to injury concerns.

"UP Warriorz (UPW) picked Georgia Voll as a replacement for Chamari Athapaththu for the remainder of the TATA Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025. Athapaththu will be resuming national duties for Sri Lanka," the WPL said in a statement on Thursday (February 27).

Voll comes in as an almost like-for-like replacement in terms of a left-handed opening batter into the UP Warriorz side. The 21-year-old has made a sparkling start to her international career, scoring a century in just her second ODI. She has played three T20Is in addition to three ODIs and one Test for Australia.

The Australian batter will join UPW for INR 30 Lakh. She becomes UP Warriorz's second replacement signing after West Indies' Chinelle Henry was roped in for the same value earlier in the season to fill in the void left by Healy.

UPW, who are being captained by Deepti Sharma in Healy's absence, is currently placed fourth in the five-team league with four points from five matches. Their two wins this campaign included a super over victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Bengaluru.

UPW's two-match winning run was ended by Mumbai Indians in their most recent outing at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Deepti and Co will hope to keep their playoff hopes alive, starting with when they next play bottom-placed Gujarat Giants at Lucknow on March 3.