India captain Harmanpreet Kaur on Wednesday spoke about how the Women’s Premier League and her WPL franchise Mumbai Indians, have played a big role in shaping her mindset as a leader. She said the experience helped her develop a strong “winning mindset, something she later used while guiding India to the women’s ODI World Cup title.
Harmanpreet, who has already led the Mumbai Indians to two WPL titles, explained that working with the franchise changed the way she looks at competitions and success.
“I believe wherever I go, I want to think about winning because participation, we have been doing for so many years, I think that doesn’t change anything,” Harmanpreet said at a press conference organised by Mumbai Indians here.
She added that focusing purely on winning can make a huge difference, not just for players but for the country as well.
“But if you go with a winning mindset and work towards that, that can bring a lot of things to you and to your country. WPL made a lot of changes in me, especially thinking because before that, some limitations were there but when I came here and worked with MI.”
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How the Mumbai Indians Influenced Harmanpreet Kaur’s Thinking
Talking about what exactly changed after joining the Mumbai Indians, Harmanpreet highlighted the culture of success within the franchise. She said being around a team that is always focused on winning had a lasting impact on her.
“MI has been winning IPL title for so many years and that winning mindset came and when I was sitting with them, they were always thinking about what best we can do to beat any team or to win the title.
“That’s what has completely changed,” she added.
Lisa Keightley on WPL’s Impact on Indian Players
Mumbai Indians’ new head coach Lisa Keightley also shared her thoughts on how the WPL has helped Indian players grow. According to her, domestic players are now getting exposed to the kind of pressure that prepares them well for international cricket.
“The Indian international players are getting fantastic competitions to lead into international cricket in World Cups and being put under pressure,” Lisa said.
She explained that dealing with pressure at the domestic level naturally improves performance at the international stage.
“And if you’re doing that in your domestic competition, it’s only going to enhance your performance when you go away and play international cricket. We’ve seen the result of that through India winning the last 50-over World Cup when they’re under pressure in the semi-final to win that match, and then go on and win the final.
“It was big for the country and big for those players like Harman who have played a number of years and had that feeling of winning one of those big tournaments,” she added.
WPL’s Role in India’s World Cup Triumph
Keightley firmly believes that India’s ODI World Cup victory would not have been possible without the WPL providing consistent high-level competition over the past few years.
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“I think that’s a result of WPL in the last three years and we’re seeing the reward when they go away to international competitions,” she said.
New Chapter for Mumbai Indians Under Keightley
The Australian coach has taken charge of the Mumbai Indians after Charlotte Edwards stepped down to become the England women’s team head coach. Keightley said coaching in Mumbai feels special to her.
“It’s my first job in Mumbai and I think it’s a very special city for me because whenever I get a chance to play here, I always get to see positive results,” she said.
Looking ahead to the upcoming season, she sounded confident and optimistic.
“I am sure this season is also going to be very special. I am really happy that last season and last year turned out to be very good overall for women’s cricket. I hope this year also starts the same way.”
Focus on Mental Strength and Team Culture
Keightley also spoke about the importance of keeping the squad mentally prepared as the new WPL season begins on January 9.
“The team’s pretty settled. We’ve got a really good core group of players and we’ll have really good role clarity going into those matches,” she said.
She stressed that while the team structure may not change much, maintaining hunger, passion and a strong team environment will be key.
“I can’t see that it would change too much, but the hunger and the passion, the family atmosphere that we create is really important. It’s up to myself, Harman and coaching staff to make sure our players feel very supported and backed when they go out to execute their role,” she added.
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