Mumbai Indians (MI) faced a major setback in their quest to retain the Women's Premier League (WPL) title as wicketkeeper-batter G Kamalini got ruled out of the tournament due to injury. The details of the injury haven't been made public as of yet and the franchise has already decided their replacement for the player.
MI have roped in 20-year-old Vaishnavi Sharma for a fee of INR 30 lakh. Unlike Kamalini, Vaishnavi is not a wicketkeeper and instead is a left-arm spinner. She had risen to prominence with the Women's U19 T20 World Cup where she had played a big role in India's triumph. With 17 wickets in six matches, Vaishnavi was one of the side's top performers in the tournament.
Vaishnavi to make WPL debut in MI's next match?
This led to Vaishnavi gaining a maiden international call-up with India's five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. She took a total of five scalps in the assignment and also maintained a commendable economy-rate. Though she didn't attract any bidders at the WPL 2026 auction, she has now been signed by MI mid-way through the season. She is yet to make her debut in the tournament and it remains to be seen if she will be given a place in the playing XI for MI's upcoming encounter against the Delhi Capitals on January 20.
Massive setback for MI
On the other hand, Kamalini had been a regular for MI in their playing XI in the ongoing WPL campaign and had featured in all the five matches that they had played so far. She had scored 75 runs from 77 deliveries with the highest score of 32, but will not be playing the remaining games of the tournament. Kamalini had been roped in by MI for a massive fee of INR 1.60 crore after the bidding had started at the base price of INR 10 lakh.
With Kamalini out of action, MI have Rahila Firdous as the only wicketkeeper-batter in their squad. She hasn't debuted either in WPL or in international cricket. The 27-year-old hails from Madhya Pradesh and it will be interesting to see how she performs for MI in their remaining games of the WPL.