Mumbai Indians- the most successful franchise of the Indian Premier League (IPL)- announced their entry into the Women’s Premier League (WPL) with a bang. Having India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur as their captain, the team lifted the inaugural WPL trophy, beating Delhi Capitals in Sunday’s blockbuster final.
While Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium was covered in blue, star pacers of the men’s team Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer marked their presence in the stands to cheer for the women’s unit. The speedsters were captured engaged in a friendly conversation and a clip of their interaction was dropped by the franchise on Instagram.
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Mumbai Indians fans are still living with the dream of watching Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer breathing fire for the same IPL team.
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Archer was roped in during the 2022 mega auction but the English pacer was ruled out of the entire season due to injury concerns. While he is set to make his debut for the Mumbai-based franchise in the IPL 2023, Bumrah will not be available owing to his persistent back issue.
The ace Indian quick has remained out of cricket for a significant length of time, missing a number of important international assignments including the iconic Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. The Indian team may also deal with his absence in the upcoming marquee events like the Asia Cup as well as the ODI World Cup, which will be hosted by India.
Mumbai Indians will also miss the service of another fast-bowling option Jhye Richardson. The Australian seamer was signed by the franchisee for Rs 1.5 crore at December’s mini-auction. At the beginning of March, Richardson underwent hamstring surgery, which denied his maiden appearance for the five-time IPL champions.
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Coming to the WPL final, Mumbai bowlers were at the top of their form as they managed to restrict the star-studded Delhi batting unit to a paltry score of 131 runs in 20 overs. Issy Wong and Hayley Matthews wrapped up the match with three wickets each while Amelia Kerr got two in her kitty.
Stepping on to chase, Mumbai lost both of their openers’ Matthews and Yastika Bhatia early. But Nat Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet Kaur showed their nerve, steering the innings composedly. The skipper left for the hut after scoring a 39-ball 37, while Brunt remained unbeaten at 60 off 55 deliveries. Following Kerr’s blistering 14-run cameo in the end, Mumbai won the match by 7 wickets.
The men’s team will open their IPL 2023 campaign with a mega encounter against Royal Challengers Bangalore away from home. The high-voltage face-off is slated to take place on April 2 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
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