´Proud´ Lanning to captain Delhi Capitals in inaugural WPL

MUMBAI: Decorated Australia cricket captain Meg Lanning will skipper the Delhi Capitals in the inaugural Women´s Premier League, the franchise said on Thursday.

The 30-year-old has led her country to four Twenty20 World Cup titles -- the latest in South Africa last month -- and a one-day crown.

The WPL, a T20 competition, begins on Saturday and has been touted as a game-changer for women´s cricket.

"It´s a very proud moment for me to firstly be involved in a franchise like the Delhi Capitals and then to be named captain is a huge honour," Lanning said in Mumbai, where the WPL will take place over the course of this month.

"The fact that the WPL is now up and running and provides a platform for young girls from around the world, but also from India as well, to take the next step and be involved in something like this is amazing," she added.

Batter Lanning has played 132 T20 internationals, hitting two centuries and 15 half-centuries at an average of 36.61 and strike rate of 116.37.