Mumbai Indians will begin their campaign for the second edition of the Women's Premier League as defending champions. The Harmanpreet Kaur will clash with Delhi Capitals in their tournament opener at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
After a successful inaugural WPL season, Mumbai Indians retained 13 players and released Heather Graham, Dhara Gujjar, Sonam Yadav and Neelam Bisht.
However, they attained the services of South African pacer Shabnim Ismail by spending Rs 1.20 crore in the auction. The Mumbai-based franchise also bought youngsters such as S Sanjana, Amandeep Kaur, Keethana Balakrishnan and Fatima Jaffer.
Mumbai Indians won the inaugural edition after some brilliant performances from their all-rounders.
Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, and Amelia Kerr are some of the best all-rounders in the world.
Sciver-Brunt proved invaluable to the Mumbai-based team last season as she amassed 332 runs and claimed ten wickets. With 215 runs and 16 wickets, Matthews was the most productive bowler for MI.
Kerr, who amassed 15 wickets and scored 149 runs, was just a little behind, either.
MI's Issy Wong is the first Women's Premier League player to have a hat trick. She has a strike rate of 132.60 in WPL 2023.
MI didn't have a standout fast bowler in the previous season, but their all-round players hid that weakness. This time, one of the fastest bowlers in women's cricket, Shabnim Ismail, a former speedster from South Africa.
But the Indian pace bowler contingent looks bleak. Pooja Vastrakar is an experienced bowler for India, but she bowled only four overs in WPL 2023.
Amarjot kaur is other Indian pacer. Whether she gets a chance in a crucial situation remains to be seen in the coming days.
WPL 2024: Mumbai Indians full schedule, list of matches, live match timings and venue
Date
Match
Time
Venue
February 23
Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals
19:30:00
M Chinnaswamy Stadium
February 25
Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians
19:30:00
M Chinnaswamy Stadium
February 28
Mumbai Indians vs UP Warriorz
19:30:00
M Chinnaswamy Stadium
March 2
Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians
19:30:00
M Chinnaswamy Stadium
March 5
Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians
19:30:00
Arun Jaitley Stadium
March 7
UP Warriorz vs Mumbai Indians
19:30:00
Arun Jaitley Stadium
March 9
Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants
19:30:00
Arun Jaitley Stadium
March 12
Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
19:30:00
Arun Jaitley Stadium
Opportunity
Due to the limit on foreign players, Mumbai Indians might see Shabnim Ismail as an opportunity.
Ismail's out-and-out pace bowling is expected to help them. In that case, Issy Wong has to warm the benches, given they can't drop Matthews, Sciver-Brunt and Kerr.
Threats
No Indian pacer to assist Ismail could become the biggest threat for Mumbai Indians in WPL 2024.