Mumbai Indians (MI) have gone ahead with Harmanpreet Kaur as their captain for the upcoming inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) in 2023, the franchise announced on Wednesday, March 1. The news comes after Harmanpreet joined her team's training camp, having led India to the semifinal of the recently concluded ICC Women's T20 World Cup.
One of India's best cricketers, she is also the skipper for Team India. Harmanpreet's appearance in the semi-final clash against Australia was her 150 T20I game as she became the first cricketer to achieve this feat. She made her international debut at the ripe age of 20 and under her captaincy, India reached the final of the 2020 T20 World Cup as well as the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
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The Arjuna Awardee has a solid winning record and holds the record for the highest-ever individual score in a knockout game during a Women's ODI World Cup match — 171* against Australia.
"We are thrilled to have Harmanpreet as the captain of Mumbai Indians’ first-ever women’s cricket team. As the national captain, she has led the Indian Women’s team to some of their most exciting wins. And I am sure that with Charlotte and Jhulan’s 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. We are so looking forward to the beginning of this new chapter for MI," Nita Ambani said about the appointment.
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Harman will link up with her former India teammate Jhulan Goswami, who is the bowling coach as well as the mentor for the MI side. She will have the experience of World Cup-winning former England skipper Charlotte Edwards and will hope to transfer her exceptional performances to other global women's T20 leagues across the world.
Mumbai Indians play the season opener of the WPL 2023 season against Gujarat Giants at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, March 4.
Mumbai Indians full squad
Harmanpreet Kaur (c) Natalie Sciver-Brunt, Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Yastika Bhatia, Heather Graham, Isabelle Wong, Amanjot Kaur, Dhara Gujjar, Saika Ishaque, Hayley Matthews, Chloe Tryon, Humairaa Kaazi, Priyanka Bala, Sonam Yadav, Neelam Bisht, and Jintimani Kalita.
