DC vs RCB WPL 2025: Why Are Delhi Capitals Playing With 5 Overseas Players?
Here's why Delhi Capitals is playing with five overseas players in WPL 2025.
The fourth match of WPL 2025 between Delhi Capitals Women (DC-W) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women (RCB-W) at the Kotambi Stadium, Vadodara, has sparked a debate. Fans noticed that Delhi Capitals fielded five overseas players, which is usually not allowed under WPL rules.
In this match, RCB captain Smriti Mandhana won the toss and opted to bowl first. RCB made a tactical change by including Ekta Bisht in place of Prema Rawat. On the other hand, Delhi Capitals made two changes—Marizanne Kapp and Jess Jonassen returned to the XI after recovering from injuries, replacing Alice Capsey and Niki Prasad.
This led to DC playing with five foreign players:
- Meg Lanning (Australia)
- Marizanne Kapp (South Africa)
- Annabel Sutherland (Australia)
- Jess Jonassen (Australia)
- Sarah Bryce (Scotland)
WPL Rule Allowing 5th Overseas Player
As per WPL regulations, teams can field a maximum of four overseas players in their playing XI. However, there is an exception:
A team can include an extra overseas player if that player is from an Associate Nation.
In this case, Sarah Bryce (Scotland) is from an Associate Member Nation, meaning she does not count towards the four-player overseas limit. This allowed Delhi Capitals to field five foreign players legally.
What WPL Regulations Say
The official WPL rule states:
A franchise shall not name more than four overseas players in its starting XI. However, a team can include one additional overseas player from an Associate Nation, who will not be considered as a foreign player.
This means that while Bryce is an overseas player, she is counted as a domestic player for team selection purposes.
