Raring to go: Jhulan, Edwards, Harmanpreet and Sanjana at the media interaction.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI
While Yastika Bhatia may be India’s second-choice keeper in the national setup, she remains the top pick for the Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League.
However, there may be some competition for the southpaw from G. Kamalini, the new kid on the block who announced her arrival with a sterling outing during India’s triumphant U19 World Cup campaign.
Ahead of the upcoming edition of WPL, MI captain Harmanpreet Kaur threw her weight behind Yastika.
“Last year was really good for Yastika. And Kamalini has been brought in as a promising under-19 player.
“Our support staff is going to polish her skills, she needs to work very hard,” Harmanpreet said here on Wednesday at the pre-season media interaction. “To replace Yastika is difficult for me to believe. But we have a few days left for the season where we will play a few practice matches.
“At this time, it’s great to see so much competition for places in the team. The new faces we have picked are good, so it’s going to be an exciting season for me as a captain and for the team as well.”
Making an impact
MI mentor and bowling coach Jhulan Goswami acknowledged the impact the WPL is having on the wider ecosystem.
“If you go to domestic cricket, you’ll see the girls now want to play a good brand of cricket and impress scouts to play in the WPL,” Jhulan said.
“I have travelled to different parts of the country where you would earlier never get recognition, but people now want to know when the next WPL is coming. The impact of the WPL is amazing.”
Head coach Charlotte Edwards hoped for a fruitful season with MI, the inaugural edition champion, which returns to the Brabourne Stadium for the last leg of the competition.
Amazing experience
“The first year was an amazing experience to win the WPL. We played some fantastic cricket last year, which is all we can ask for.
“We spoke in the team that we wanted people to want to turn on their TV and watch Mumbai Indians,” Edwards said.
“We certainly did that last year. We had some entertaining games of cricket. We missed out by the narrowest of margins, which was disappointing.
“This year there is just pure excitement to keep building this team, keep improving, get back to CCI, and be in another final this year.”
WPL’s third edition will begin on February 14.
Mumbai Indians will open its campaign against Delhi Capitals the following day.
Published – February 05, 2025 11:03 pm IST
Content Source: www.thehindu.com