Chamari Athapaththu to leave WPL midway to join Sri Lanka for New Zealand tour

UP Warriorz (UP-W) will suffer a second major blow in the Women's Premier League (WPL) as Sri Lankan all-rounder Chamari Athapaththu is set to fly back midway due to prior international responsibilties.

Athapaththu has confirmed to join the Sri Lankan squad for their white-ball tour of New Zealand, which is set to commence on March 4 in Napier. UP-W had to deal with another blow earlier in the form of full-time captain, Alyssa Healy, not being available due to an injury. 

According to ESPNcricinfo, Athapaththu's availability is expected to be until February 26, potentially featuring in four more matches in the tournament before she departs. UP-W, who have played just one game so far, losing it to Gujarat Giants where Athapaththu was left out of the playing XI, will be facing Mumbai Indians, a yet another challenge on February 26 in Bengaluru before moving to Lucknow for their final three league matches.

Chamari Athapaththu has been appointed as the captain of Sri Lanka’s squad which will fly to New Zealand on February 22. The series consists of three ODIs and three T20Is. Meanwhile, Amelia Kerr, the New Zealand all-rounder who is the only Kiwi player to play in this WPL season, has opted to stay back with Mumbai Indians (MI) throughout the tournament, even if MI reaches the knockouts. If MI reaches the final on March 15, Kerr will likely be skipping New Zealand’s first two T20Is on March 14 and 16 in Christchurch. 

As this has turned out to be a common scenario, the scheduling clash isn't new to the cricketing world. In 2024, Lauren Bell (UP-W) and England's Heather Knight (RCB-W) chose national duties over WPL. Fortunately, UP-W had then rolled in Athapaththu as Bell’s replacement. Since then, the England Cricket Board (ECB) and other boards have sworn to avoid international fixtures during the WPL tournament. Notably, the Indian tournament is set to move to a January-February window from 2026 onwards. Other leagues like The Hundred (August) and the WBBL (November) have also secured exclusive apertures until the year 2029 to prevent such conflicts.