"You expect from this team's quality that they are going to bounce back" - Aakash Chopra and other experts predict likely winners of WPL 2025

Former India opener Aakash Chopra has picked the Mumbai Indians (MI) as the likely winners of WPL 2025. He expects the Mumbai-based franchise to bounce back strongly after a slightly indifferent run last season.

The schedule for the third edition of the Women's Premier League was announced on Thursday, January 16. While the opening game will be played between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Gujarat Giants (GG) in Vadodara on February 14, Mumbai will host the final on March 15.

In a show on Star Sports, Chopra predicted that the Mumbai Indians would lift the WPL 2025 trophy.

"The #Aakashvani for this season is the Mumbai Indians. I feel Harmanpreet Kaur's team will go all the way this time with their three all-rounders. The last season was not good but they lifted the trophy in the first season. Alternate years, first year, third year, could be Mumbai's year one more time. You expect from this team's quality that they are going to bounce back, and bounce back strongly," he said.

The cricketer-turned-commentator picked the all-rounder trio of Natalie Sciver-Brunt, Amelia Kerr and Hayley Matthews, along with Harmanpreet Kaur's captaincy, as MI's strengths heading into the tournament.

"They have Natalie Sciver-Brunt. She is outstanding. After that, they have New Zealand's Amelia Kerr. She is incredible and then the West Indies' Hayley Matthews. You will find it very difficult to find better all-rounders than them even on the world stage and this team has all three. So these three all-rounders is basically their strength, along with Harmanpreet Kaur's captaincy," Chopra elaborated.

The Mumbai Indians finished third in WPL 2024. Nadine de Klerk, G Kamalini, Sanskriti Gupta and Akshita Maheshwari were the four players they acquired at the WPL 2025 auction.

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"I kind of feel this year might be Delhi's year" - Veda Krishnamurthy on likely WPL 2025 winners

The Delhi Capitals finished as the runners-up in the first two editions of the WPL. [P/C: wplt20.com]

On the same show, Veda Krishnamurthy picked the Delhi Capitals (DC) as the likely winners of WPL 2025.

"Looking at the squads, I really like Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi, but looks like there are injury concerns for RCB. So they need to figure that out. I kind of feel this year might be Delhi's year, with the way their Indian players are performing, especially coming off a good domestic and international performance," she reasoned.

Parthiv Patel opined that RCB could retain the trophy they won last year.

"It's extremely difficult to win the title in two consecutive years. However, early predictions will have to be made. I feel RCB will perform well this year and they might once again win the tournament this year," he said.

Reema Malhotra concurred with Veda Krishnamurthy and reckoned the Delhi Capitals would lift the trophy this season.