Lanning describes her leadership style with UP Warriorz as Abhishek Nayar calls her “the best mind in women’s cricket.”
Lanning: Want to put ‘my own spin on it’ to help UP Warriorz move forward.
Since she was named Australia’s captain at the age of 21, Meg Lanning has been associated with leadership. Lanning will begin a new chapter in her captaincy career at UP Warriorz in WPL 2026, one that could challenge her like none other in the past.
Warriorz have undergone a makeover; their finest performance in the WPL was during the first season when they made it to the playoffs. Abhishek Nayar is in charge of their new coaching staff. Shweta Sehrawat, 21, was their lone retention before to the massive auction, and they have a youthful team with up to five uncapped players.
With her new team, Lanning will draw from her experience leading the Delhi Capitals to a runners-up finish in each of the first three WPL seasons.
“I certainly learnt a lot in my experience with Delhi,” Lanning said in a media interaction on Monday in Navi Mumbai. “Coming into a new franchise, you don’t really know how things operate or how individuals work. A really important part of the initial week or so is getting used to that. And that’s what I’ve tried to focus on here in my first few days – just trying to get to know everybody.
“I’m struggling a little bit with all the names. I’m trying to remember all of them, but it’s just trying to understand what people’s roles are, how it all works, and things that I can maybe have some input into and make an impact on, and then some areas where I just need to let people do their job. I don’t want to be in control over everything [but] try and bring different people’s perspectives and give them confidence to be able to execute their roles.”
Nayar added that Lanning has “the best mind in women’s cricket” and that Warriorz intended to have her join the team as captain. The other contender was Deepti, who had commanded the team in Alyssa Healy’s absence the previous season.
“For me, she is the best mind out there in women’s cricket,” Nayar said. “So we are very happy to have her. It’s the first time for me [coaching a women’s cricket team], yes. But I’ve always believed the best teams have the best captains. And this format, especially, is a captain’s format. I wanted someone who could lead this team and having Meg there makes things very easy for me because she’s going to take all the pressure. I’m going to be chilling, having coffee. So no pressure, Meg.
“But nothing changes. It’s still cricket. It’s still about the players. It’s not about the coach. So I’m here to support her and the team in the best way possible. And hopefully, we can create a legacy of our own.”