Between them, the two Sydney franchises have signed up Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, and Radha Yadav ahead of the Women's Big Bash League, starting next month.
Mandhana and Sharma will replace Heather Knight and Tammy Beaumont at Sydney Thunder, who have made themselves unavailable for the season. While Mandhana had previously played for Brisbane Heat and Hobart Hurricanes, this will be Sharma's debut WBBL season. Sharma had an impressive outing with London Spirits in the inaugural season of The Hundred, where she picked up 10 wickets at an economy rate of 5.26.
Sydney Sixers have meanwhile roped in Verma and Yadav, as confirmed by the franchise. Verma, 17, had signed a two-year deal with the Sixers in May, while Yadav’s addition is recent. Both are set to play for the first time in the WBBL. Verma is currently sitting at the top among the ICC Women’s batters in T20I cricket. Ben Sawyer, who coached Verma at Birmingham Pheonix in the Hundred, will be her coach again in the Sixers.