Big Setback For UP Warriorz ! This Star Player To Leave WPL 2025 Midway; Here's Why

This will be the second big blow for UPW who are already without their full-time captain Alyssa Healy because of injury.

UP Warriorz (UPW) have suffered a major blow in the ongoing Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 as Sri Lankan batter Chamari Athapaththu will leave the tournament midway for national duties.

The 35-year-old Athapaththu is set to miss the final phase of the WPL 2025 for UP Warriorz to join Sri Lanka on a white-ball tour of New Zealand starting March 4 in Napier. Sri Lanka is scheduled to play three ODIs and three T20Is during the tour.

According to an ESPNcricinfo report, Athapaththu will be available for UP Warriorz until February 26.

Athapaththu's early departure will be the second big blow for UPW who are already without their full-time captain Alyssa Healy because of injury.

UPW, who did not include Athapaththu in their opening match against Gujarat Giants, will play four more matches before February 26, ahead of the final phase of the tournament, which will feature three home games in Lucknow.

On Monday, Athapaththu was named the captain of Sri Lanka's 16-member squad, which will depart for New Zealand on February 22.

Meanwhile, Amelia Kerr, the only New Zealand player in the WPL this season, will play the entire tournament, including the knockouts if Mumbai Indians qualify for those again. If MI make it to the final, scheduled for March 15, Kerr will also miss the first two T20is slotted for March 14 and 16 in Christchurch.

The Kiwi all-rounder also participated in the previous edition of the WPL, skipping her national team’s bilateral T20Is against England.

In the previous season, England’s captain Heather Knight (RCB) and Lauren Bell (UPW) had missed the WPL due to national duty, as the series clashed with a T20 series in New Zealand.