With the second season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), the biggest women’s T20 league slated to be held in Bengaluru and Delhi in less than two weeks time, defending champions Mumbai Indians too warmed up for the occasion with their first practice training sessions too.

Being conducted at the picturesque Reliance Jio Stadium in Ghansoli, Navi Mumbai the players from the 2023 edition off MI squad lead by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, along with the new recruits of the likes of Keerthana Balakrishnan, Sajana Sajeevan and local favourite Fatima Jaffer were warmly welcomed by the Head Coach Charlotte Edwards along with the team Mentor and Bowling Coach Jhulan Goswami, Batting Coach Devieka Palshikaar, Fielding Coach Lydia Greenway and other support staff

With the players of the MI WPL squad of the likes of the Yastika Bhatia, Amanjot Kaur, Humairaa Kaazi, Saika Ishaque, Jintimani Kalita, Priyanka Bala who too arrived at the camp in batches later joined their peers in undergoing  customized drills, the 44 year old former England captain Charlotte gave an overall perspective, heading into the preparatory phase prior to the upcoming WPL season.

"It has been really lovely the last couple of days. Getting to know the new players and catching up with players from the last season has been great. We have seven players in the camp already. They have had lots of cricket already. It has been a nice start so far. The players are taking part in agility drills, strength work-outs and fielding drills in addition to personal assessments and customised practice sessions. The session continued into the night with batting and bowling in the nets under the watchful eyes of the coaches in their quest for cricketing excellence, “said Charlotte, MI Head Coach.

Batting Coach Devieka Palshikaar on the occasion said, “The players got a choice today at the session with range hitting and any specific shot they want to work on. Some players also repeated what they worked on in the previous session. Some of them play a finisher’s role like Pooja, Amanjot, Sajana and Kaazi, so we focused on range hitting”.

Looking at the season ahead, Devieka said, “My aim is to support players right now in whatever way possible. I look after some technical, but also tactical aspects, since they know their specific roles now.”

As may be recalled the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently announced the schedule for TATA WPL 2024. The much-awaited second season of the exciting T20 tournament, involving five formidable franchises will be played across two cities between 23rd February and 17th March 2024 across 20 league matches and two knockout matches.

The fiercely competitive tournament will only have single headers, with all matches beginning at 7:30 PM IST. The first 11 of the 20 league matches will be held in Bengaluru, with the remaining nine ones and the two Playoff matches taking place in Delhi.

Reigning champions Mumbai Indians will kick-off the proceedings against last edition's runner’s-up Delhi Capitals in the opening match of tourney. Hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore, who will stride out at their home ground, the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, for the first time on 24th February, facing off against UP Warriorz. Next up will be Gujarat Giants, starting their 2024 WPL campaign going head-to-head against Mumbai Indians the next day.

The Delhi leg of the league gets underway on 5th March, with the home team Delhi Capitals playing their first game at the Arun Jaitley Stadium against Mumbai Indians. Like Bengaluru, Delhi too will host matches every day until the last league match on 13th March. Once the league stage is complete, the team that finishes first in the points table will secure a direct passage to the final.

The Eliminator, a virtual semi-final nail-biting knock-out spectacle between the second and third-placed teams in the table, will unfold on Friday, 15th March. The winner of the Eliminator will advance to the final and will battle to conquer the prestigious trophy against the top-ranked team in the ultimate showdown on Sunday, 17th March.

Mumbai Indians Squad:

Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Yastika Bhatia (WK), Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Chloe Tryon, Harmanpreet Kaur, Hayley Matthews, Humaira Kazi, Issy Wong, Jintimani Kalita, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Pooja Vastrakar, Priyanka Bala (WK), Saika Ishaque, Yastika Bhatia (WK) , Shabnim Ismail, S Sajana, Amandeep Kaur, Fatima Jaffer and Keerthana Balakrishnan.

Mumbai Indians WPL 2024 Round Robin League Schedule:

Friday, 23rd February - Mumbai Indians Vs Delhi Capitals in Bengaluru

Sunday, 25th February - Gujarat Giants Vs Mumbai Indians in Bengaluru

Wednesday 28th February – Mumbai Indians Vs UP Warriors in Bengaluru

Saturday, 2nd March – Royal Challengers Bangalore Vs Mumbai Indians in Bengaluru

Tuesday, 5th March – Delhi Capitals Vs Mumbai Indians in Delhi

Thursday, 7th March – UP Warriors Vs Mumbai Indians in Delhi

Saturday, 9th March – Mumbai Indians Vs Gujarat Giants in Delhi

Tuesday, 12th March – Mumbai Indians Vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in Delhi