Surprisingly, Mumbai Indians (MI) won the first edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL). The franchise, led by Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, seems to be the most valuable part of the tournament, with big and rare names, Indians and foreigners, working together like a machine. Lubricant to overcome many obstacles with ease. final against Delhi Capitals (DC).

But while Harmanpreet was given a team that made dominating in cricket much easier, it was not as smooth sailing for many Indian stars, be it a batsman or a fielder. In fact, the WPL is very hot for many Indian players at the national team level.

Honestly, even for MI it would have been a different story if the import had not gone well. Between Hayley Matthews, Natalie Sciver-Brunt and Issy Wong, MI had three players who helped make things easy for Harmanpreet.

Matthews would be our pick for player of the tournament, no doubt. Her total of 271 runs in 10 innings plus 16 wickets is the best WPL total and an unbeaten average. His contribution was evident on the field as he teamed up with Harmanpreet and Sciver-Brunt to steer the MI engine.

Sciver-Brunt made it or the franchise unscathed with 332 runs and 10 wickets, while Wong was there with his bowling, with 15 wickets. These three are gems for MI.

Among the Indian MI players, the left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque is there with the 5th spot in the list of bowlers, with 15 wickets. A good first match for a relative unknown.

Yastika Bhatia also has his say, being one of the top 15 batsmen, a huge boost for a player who is struggling to find a place in India's first XI.

But one look at the charts above and you will immediately see that some of the best names in Indian cricket are missing out, so far, not even finishing in the top 15.

The most famous among these is certainly that of Smriti Mandhana. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batsman may not be able to warm up the captain in the opening round as he is consistent. If anything, his struggles are heralded, as RCB fell from favor early on, never to recover.

In fact, the only other Indian batsman in contention is Shafali Verma for Delhi Capitals, with 252 runs over nine innings. But he's not aggressive, just like his time problem.

In that area, there is little from Jemimah Rodrigues or Richa Ghosh, while Deepti Sharma is struggling in many cases, especially in the finishing work that suits her in some way, whether in India or not the color of the franchise.

The top 10 batsmen are Indians with Harmanpreet (No. 4) and Verma (No. 9), while the list of batsmen sees Ishaque at No. 5 and Shikha Pandey on 7, with 10 wickets. There is no sign that much is being said about Team India's spinners.

Says a lot, these numbers. Foreign contributions to MI and the cause of other franchises cannot be ignored, if it is a midfielder - as in the case of runner Meg Lanning for DC or Alyssa Healy for UP Warriorz.

Many lessons for Indian players. It is hoped that their participation will increase as the tournament grows so that India's women's cricket reserves are as strong as the men's in the years to come.