When Mumbai Indians begins its campaign in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) next week, the expectations will be high. Being the captain of the defending champion side, Harmanpreet Kaur understands that it is important to stay in the present.
And, she wants to keep things simple and ensure that the players have enough clarity in their roles. “Last year, we kept things simple. This time, too, we will have a similar approach. We would like to have role clarity for the players so that they can go and perform. Last season as well, we did not have it in our mind that we will have to win the tournament, we just went out there and played our natural game,” Harmanpreet said during the team’s pre-season interaction with the media on Friday.
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“People will have expectations from us, but there are times when things are not under your control. You can just go there and do your best. Last season, we enjoyed ourselves, and this time, too, we plan to do the same. The venues will be different, and so will the atmosphere. For us, it will be going there and doing the job rather than thinking about what happened last year.”
The Mumbai outfit strengthened its fast bowling department by roping in South African Shabnim Ismail and also brought on board young Indian talents in Amandeep Kaur and Fatima Jaffer. “We have a balanced squad, and we have been able to bring on board some bright domestic talents. We have fast bowlers like Ismail, so be it in Bengaluru or Delhi - we have the right players for all the surfaces. It’s not like we have steadiness in just one department. If I talk about batting, everyone can play both spin and pace. We are confident about our team,” the captain said during the event, which was also attended by coaches Charlotte Edwards and Jhulan Goswami.
With the T20 World Cup scheduled to be played in Bangladesh later this year, Harmanpreet believes that this tournament could be a launching pad for the uncapped, rookie talents. “This is a platform where the players - especially those coming from domestic cricket - can perform well and get noticed. If they perform well here, they are kind of ready for the international level. If we get to see a few good performances, it helps us in giving opportunities to those talents, leading up to the T20 World Cup,” she said.
Mumbai Indians will begin its campaign against Delhi Capitals at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru next Friday.
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