Abhishek Nayar, the head coach of UP Warriorz, acknowledged that the decision to move Harleen Deol to the top of the order did not work out and took responsibility for the team’s batting-order reorganisation against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. After the team’s second straight defeat of the WPL 2026 season, the move—which was done with matchups in mind—came under scrutiny.
Kiran Navgire, who started the tournament as an opener but was demoted to number four, was asked to open the innings in lieu of Deol. Expectations of early movement with the new ball had a role in the decision, but the approach did not produce the expected outcomes.
“We thought Harleen could contribute a little something to the power play with the moving ball at that point.” Technically, she is undoubtedly correct. Today, that didn’t work out. It seemed like the incorrect choice to me. According to ESPNcricinfo, Nayar stated following the game, “I accept full responsibility for it.”
However, we expected a little swing at first, so I believe the idea was to have some firmness up top and then hopefully have that power later when the pitch improves. I believed that Kiran Navgire’s midfield matchups would be effective. They didn’t work today, though.
Thus, I appear stupid,” Nayar continued.
For UPW, the initial setbacks were expensive. Deol had trouble getting going against Lauren Bell; during her 14-ball stay, she consumed nine dot balls before mishandling a shot to mid-off. Before being removed at deep mid-wicket, Navgire, who was sent in at number four, could only muster five runs from three deliveries. The Warriorz fell to 50 for five after losing four wickets for just 11 runs as a result of her wicket.
After that, there was a comeback, with Deandra Dottin and Deepti Sharma forming an undefeated tandem to lead the team to a respectable but unimpressive 143 for 5. In his analysis of the innings, Nayar minimised the importance of the batting order in relation to the collapse. In the simplest format, the UPW coach restated his more general views on flexibility.
We lost a tonne of wickets in today’s match, so you can’t discuss the batting order too much. We thought it was quite easy. Everyone knew exactly what their jobs were. But what role do you play when you lose so many wickets? “You simply must go out and play,” the former all-rounder from Mumbai stated.
“The numbers following your top three don’t really matter in T20 cricket, in my opinion. Today’s top three was determined by the opposition. Even though I think it’s a good idea for players to play predetermined roles, I didn’t think it worked out today. However, that does not imply that Kiran or Harleen are incapable of succeeding. Today, it simply didn’t work out. “We would be having a different conversation if she had received a perfect score,” he said.
The Warriorz’s next game is against the Delhi Capitals Women in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday. It will be an exciting match for the spectators to watch live because neither team has won a game this season.
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