Days before the start of the inaugural Women’s Premier League, Mumbai Indians have appointed Harmanpreet Kaur as their captain. The tournament is all set to begin on March 4, Mumbai are in action on the first day of the tournament and their clash against Gujarat Giants will be the first match of the brand-new league.
The announcement of the Indian skipper as captain of the Mumbai team comes with expected lines in a squad that also features other top international players like Nat Sciver-Brunt, Hayley Matthews and Amelia Kerr.
Mumbai Indians owner Nita Ambani was hopeful that Harmanpreet would be able to inspire the team to play their best brand of cricket.
“I’m sure with Charlotte [Edwards, head coach] and swing [Goswami, bowling coach and mentor ] With her support, she will inspire our MI Women’s team to play their best cricket, display a sense of pride and bring even more glory to women in sports,” she said as per an official release.
The 33-year-old was the second player to be sold in the first player auction of the tournament and was bought by Mumbai Indians for Rs 1.8 crore, who beat Delhi Capitals, UP Warriors and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Losing Smriti Mandhana to Bangalore.
Harmanpreet Kaur, 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩, Mumbai Indians – The magic spell.@ImHarmanpreet , #a family #mumbaiindians #alire #wpl pic.twitter.com/QP4CG5M8Tp
– Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) March 1, 2023
Interestingly, Mumbai Indians had bid up to Rs 3.2 crore for Mandhana but decided against going for Mandhana when Bangalore raised the bid to Rs 3.4 crore.
As far as Kaur is concerned, she played a brilliant inning under pressure for Team India in the first semi-final of Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 against Australia. Batting hours after recovering from fever, the right-hander scored a 34-ball 52 but was run out in a lazy attempt to come back for the second before her bat got stuck in the ground.
That wicket allowed Australia to come back in the match and beat India by 5 runs, before they lost the summit clash to hosts South Africa.
