Chamari Athapaththu will miss the final phase of the WPL for UP Warriorz (UPW) to join Sri Lanka’s white-ball tour of New Zealand, which begins on March 4 in Napier. Her departure marks the second major setback for UPW, who are already without their regular captain Alyssa Healy due to injury.
According to ESPNcricinfo, Athapaththu is expected to be available for UPW until February 26, playing four more games before leaving for national duties. After their match against Mumbai Indians in Bengaluru on February 26, UPW will travel to Lucknow for the final leg of the tournament, where they have three home matches. So far, they have played just one game, and in that match— a loss to Gujarat Giants— Athapaththu was left out of the playing XI.
Athapaththu has been named captain of Sri Lanka’s 16-member squad, which was announced by the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) on Monday. The team is set to depart for New Zealand on February 22 to play three ODIs and three T20Is.
Meanwhile, New Zealand allrounder Amelia Kerr is the only player from New Zealand in the WPL this season. Unlike Athapaththu, Kerr will stay for the entire WPL, including the knockouts, should the Mumbai Indians qualify. If MI reaches the final on March 15, Kerr will miss the first two T20Is in Christchurch on March 14 and 16. Last year, Kerr also skipped New Zealand’s T20I series against England to play the full WPL season.
The 2024 calendar clash between WPL’s final stage and New Zealand’s T20I series had created more issues when England’s Heather Knight (RCB) and Lauren Bell (UPW) opted to skip the WPL entirely to represent their national teams. Athapaththu had replaced Bell for UPW at that time.
In response to these scheduling conflicts, boards like the ECB have committed to avoiding international games during the WPL in the future. Starting in January-February 2026, the WPL will move to a different window as part of the new women’s Future Tours Programme (FTP), which also designates separate windows for tournaments like The Hundred (August) and the WBBL (November) until 2029.
