Deepti Sharma, who sealed London Spirit's first Hundred title in dramatic fashion with a straight six in last year's Lord's final, has pulled out of the 2025 season to balance her workload. Indian all-rounder Deepti is with India on an ongoing tour in England but has chosen to take a brief break after a hectic recent itinerary. With India hosting the 50-over World Cup later this year, Deepti has opted to leave her £36,000 contract behind and concentrate on rest and preparation. Her place has been taken by Australian all-rounder Charli Knott. London Spirit will experience a number of changes this season, both on and off the pitch. Charlie Dean will captain the side in the absence of Heather Knight, who is injured. Grace Harris has replaced Meg Lanning, and Chris Liddle takes the place of Ashley Noffke as head coach. Deepti’s withdrawal leaves the Hundred without any Indian players under contract this year. The BCCI does not grant No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) to active male players for overseas leagues, and several Indian women cricketers either went undrafted or made themselves unavailable due to workload management. Also Read | Watch: Rahul Drops Catch While Setting Field During Jadeja’s Over Meanwhile, other league-wide developments include Trent Rockets announcing Ashleigh Gardner to be the women's captain this season. Nat Sciver-Brunt, who became captain last month, relinquished the post to lighten her workload. Gardner has thanked her, describing it as a privilege to replace Sciver-Brunt. Ashleigh Gardner and David Willey Named Captains of Trent Rockets David Willey will lead Trent Rockets on the men's side after taking over from Lewis Gregory, who has joined Manchester Originals after being released. Willey, a £200,000 draft signing, has a wealth of short-format captaincy experience, having led Northamptonshire, Yorkshire, and Northern Superchargers before joining Welsh Fire for the past two seasons. Every Hundred side will have to complete four wildcard signings, two women and two men, next week. These will come on the back of performances during the current T20 Blast. Birmingham Phoenix have already moved a step ahead of the wildcard draft, signing Nottinghamshire seamer Freddie McCann as an injury cover for Derbyshire seamer Harry Moore, who is suffering from a back stress fracture. The Hundred will last from August 5 to 31 and is being considered a bridging phase before the ECB transfers operational rights of the eight franchises to their host counties and new private owners in time for the 2026 edition.