Women's Premier League | WPL
RCB's miss, UP Warriorz' hit: Chinelle Henry lights up WPL 2025 with a smile
Called up as a replacement player, Chinelle Henry has turned into a vital cog in the wheel for UP Warriorz.
Chinelle Henry was undergoing an injury rehabilitation back home in Jamaica. The WPL auction hadn’t gone to plan and she was training with the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers in mind.
It was then that she received an unexpected text. It was the Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru, expressing their desire to sign her as a replacement player for the injured Sophie Devine ahead of the 2025 Women’s Premier League.
Chinelle was stoked at the prospect and immediately put her agent in touch with the franchise.
Little did they know that there was an external factor in play – the UP Warriorz.
The Warriorz, unknown to Chinelle or any other team in the league, were already in talks with the BCCI to sign her as a replacement player for their captain Alyssa Healy.
This was when Healy’s withdrawal from the tournament with a foot injury wasn’t out in public knowledge.
Chinelle’s agent got some angry calls from the Royal Challengers’ management for “wasting their time” when they got to know it.
The agent immediately rang up Chinelle, puzzled.
“I said, I have no idea what you (agent) are talking about,” Chinelle said with a laugh in a conversation with The Bridge.
“I did not know what was happening, nobody knows what was happening. But the UP Warriorz and BCCI were already in touch.
“UP set my name up the moment they knew Healy wasn’t coming. She’s an opening batter; she would keep wickets…I don’t even do what she does. I bat in the middle order and bowl fast,” she added, with a smile.
Fastest half-century
The signing has, so far, worked wonders for the UP Warriorz. After two loses in as many matches, Chinelle inspired the team to their first win of the season.
The 29-year-old struck the joint fastest half-centuryof the WPL, reaching the mark off just 18 deliveries against the Delhi Capitals last month.
“When I went into the crease, Tahlia McGrath was there. She assessed the conditions for me and my role was just to take on the bowlers,” Chinelle reflected.
“Once Jon Lewis (coach) came out at the break and told 120 is not gonna win us the game, it was on the back of my mind – how do I get this team to 140?
“And from then, it was just about the responsibility of having my team back my skills and strength. I guess, it paid off,” she added.
Chinelle hit eight sixes and two boundaries in her stay before she was prized out for 63 off 23 with the final ball of the innings.
The innings helped the Warriorz recover from 89/6 to post 177/9 in their 20 overs. It remains the only match won by the team batting first in 14 matches this season.
It was also the fastest half-century of Chinelle's career.
The Warriorz currently sit on the third spot on the points table with two wins in five matches. They remain in contention to qualify for the play-offs with their home leg in Lucknow, starting Monday against the Gujarat Giants.
The Warriorz reached their home a few days ago and were busy with commercial commitments with the city hosting WPL for the first-time ever.
They had their first training session on Saturday at the Ekana Stadium and are now locked in.
“We know how important the game (against Giants) is going to be,” said Chinelle. “We are third in the points table and are looking to book a play-off spot but that has to start against the Giants.
“We are all confident of the gameplay and we have played them before. We are just tweaking little things. We are just trying to get used to the environment here as its probably the first time here for most of us, if not for all of us,” she added.
The Smiling Assassin
A veteran, who has played international cricket for more than a decade for West Indies, Chinelle has grown leaps and bounds as a power hitter, over the years.
Her natural instinct is to go big; to pick the bones out of the leather ball and deposit it past the boundary line.
And more often than not, she does it with a big smile.
“My head coach first gave me the name…Smiling Assassin…and I never understood why,” Chinelle laughed. “I guess that’s how I cope with situations.
“It doesn’t matter the type of situation I am in, I perform better in an environment when I am relaxed. Once I am enjoying it, I am going to be at my best.
“It doesn’t matter whether I am bowling or batting – I am always going to have a smile on my face. That’s something I don’t think will ever change,” she added.
With the race to play-offs heating up, the UP Warriorz will hope Chinelle stays relaxed. And with a home crowd to back her up, Chinelle’s WPL debut is just getting started.
