UP Warriorz head coach Abhishek Nayar took full responsibility for the batting-order changes after his team suffered their second straight loss in WPL 2026. The strategy to send Harleen Deol to open and push Kiran Navgire to No. 4 did not work in their favour against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), and Nayar admitted his mistake.
Warriorz lost their second match by nine wickets on January 12 and explaining the idea behind the change, Nayar said after the match, “We felt that with the moving ball at that point, Harleen could add a bit of value in the power play. She’sobviously technically correct. It didn’t work out today. I felt it turned out to be the wrong decision. I take complete responsibility for it.”
Nayar added, “But I think the thought process behind it was having some solidity up top and then hopefully having that power later on as the pitch gets better, because we anticipated a bit of swing initially. I thought those match-ups for Kiran Navgire in the middle would work. [But they] didn’t work today. So I look foolish.”
In their season opener against Gujarat Giants on January 10, Deol was dismissed for a duck and Navgire scored just one run off four balls. Despite that, Phoebe Litchfield’s brilliant 78 helped keep the scoreboard moving at the end, but despite all efforts, Warriorz lost by 10 runs.
Nayar praised Shweta Sehrawat, who impressed with her quick runs against GG. “For her career, I think it’s a great step moving forward.” On giving her wicketkeeping duties, he explained, “Giving her the gloves, in my head, was a KL Rahul sort of move, where it brightens her chances of making it to the India squad.”
He further added, “For me, in T20 cricket, the numbers after your top three don’t really matter. The top three today was a call based on the opposition.”
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