Mumbai Indians (MI) won the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 after beating Meg Lanning’s Delhi Capitals (DC) in the final at the Brabourne Stadium.
After winning five matches in a row, they looked good to finish at the top of the points table. However, back-to-back losses at the hands of UP Warriorz and Delhi Capitals pushed them to the second spot.
Both MI and DC finished with 12 points, but it was the Mumbai team that finished second due to an inferior net run rate of +1.711. In the Eliminator, they avenged their defeat against the Warriorz after which they breezed past the in-form Capitals in the final.
After winning the title last season, MI released only four players, in the form of Heather Graham, Dhara Gujjar, Sonam Yadav and Neelam Bisht, and retained 13.
In the auction, they roped in Shabnim Ismail for INR 1.20 crore. They also invested in youngsters after picking up S Sajana, Amandeep Kaur, Keerthana Balakrishnan and Fatima Jaffer.
Let us analyse how Mumbai Indians stack
MI have a plethora of all-rounders, more than any other team in the competition. Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amelia Kerr are amongst their best players who are capable of scoring quick runs and picking up wickets at regular intervals.
Sciver-Brunt scored 332 runs and picked up 10 wickets last season, numbers which show that she is an indefatigable member of the Mumbai-based franchise. Matthews was equally effective with 215 runs and 16 wickets, the most by an MI bowler.