On Wednesday, September 25, Mumbai Indians (MI) made the announcement that their new head coach ahead of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 is none other than former Australian cricketer Lisa Keightley.
The decision from the MI team management came after two-time WPL winning head coach Charlotte Edwards vacated the position to join England women’s national team in the similar capacity in April of this year.
Notably, during her playing career for Australia, Lisa Keightley played nine Tests, 82 ODIs, and one T20I in women’s cricket, winning the ODI World Cup in 1997 and 2005. After retiring from the sport, the 54-year-old went on to coach Australia and England in women’s cricket apart from plying her trade in the franchise scene, coaching Sydney Thunder in the WBBL and Northern Superchargers in The Hundred women’s competition recently.
It's an honour to join the Mumbai Indians, a team that has set the benchmark in the WPL: Lisa Keightley
She also guided Northern Superchargers to The Hundred title in the women’s competition in 2025, beating Southern Brave in the final of the tournament at Lord’s in London last month. In her first comments after joining Mumbai Indians as coach in WPL, the former Australian cricketer said, “It's an honour to join the Mumbai Indians, a team that has set the benchmark in the WPL.”
"The culture of excellence and care is something I deeply admire. I look forward to working with this talented group to build on our success and continue inspiring on and off the field,” she added. Moreover, Lisa Keightley will have her hands full with MI in the WPL 2026, needing to take the legacy of Charlotte Edwards forward after she guided them to two league titles in the first three years of the competition.
Mumbai Indians will be defending their WPL title next season after they defeated Delhi Capitals in the final of the last season earlier this year.
