MI skipper Harmanpreet reveals her winning mantra

Following their title-winning run in the previous edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), Mumbai Indians (MI) – the most successful team in the competition – are eager to embark on the new season,

facing RCB in the opener on 9th January 2026.

MI skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who led the Indian women’s cricket team to World Cup glory, aims to draw inspiration from that success as she defends the league title.

During the Mumbai Indians’ pre-season press conference in Mumbai on Wednesday, Harmanpreet said, “Whenever I go on the field, I tell my team that I want to win the trophy. This new year starts with the WPL and I have the same energy and excitement going into the tournament. We have the same mindset. We have won two trophies in the last three seasons. And we want to play well this season and win the trophy again.”

Reflecting on her experiences in Mumbai, Harmanpreet added, “It’s my first job in Mumbai and I think it’s a very special city for me because whenever I get a chance to play here, I always get to see positive results. I am sure this season is also going to be very special. I am really happy that last season and last year turned out to be very good overall for women’s cricket. I hope this year also starts the same way.”

The team is also set to draw inspiration from Lisa Keightley, a two-time World Cup winner with Australia, who takes the helm for her first WPL season with Mumbai Indians. Lisa commented on the all-female coaching staff, highlighting MI’s ethos and Mrs. Nita M. Ambani’s vision to empower women through sport.

“To have a full female coaching panel is really exciting and something different for me. We’re giving an opportunity for supporters and females across the world to actually see females in the coaching space. From that point of view, I would love to see it more often and I think over the next 10 years you’ll see that. To have a female leader in powerful positions making decisions as Mrs. Ambani also plays a part in why we’ve got females in our coaching staff. So it starts at the top and it’s filtered down. So it’s really fantastic to have those opportunities,” Keightley said.

MI Mentor and Bowling Coach Jhulan Goswami expressed her thoughts on the new head coach, stating, “It’s a blessing to work with her as she has 20 years of coaching experience. We can learn a lot under her leadership. At MI, we believe that women should always come forward and I think having an all-female coaching team is the best thing for us,” she said.