'Harmanpreet Kaur Has Lots of Options': Charlotte Edwards 'Confident' About Mumbai Indians' Bowling Attack | Exclusive

Mumbai Indians were the first franchise to begin training and they announced Harmanpreet Kaur as their captain on Wednesday,  heading into the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 season.

The franchise owned by Indiawin Sports Private Limited (a subsidiary of Reliance Industries) was the second-most expensive franchise sold during the bidding of WPL for a staggering price of Rs 912.99 crore ($111 million approx).

The sister franchise of the five-time IPL champs went big in the WPL 2023 auction to rope some of the biggest names in world cricket like Kaur herself, who joined MI for Rs 1.8 crore. They also splashed the cash on Natalie Sciver who was the joint-second most expensive recruit in the league.

Mumbai Indians also have plenty of all-rounders, although the bowling attack does seem a slight concern with a lack of marquee names to partner Pooja Vastrakar.

However, coach Charlotte Edwards is excited about England all-rounder Issy Wong’s bowling and she is confident in the domestic talents that the franchise has acquired.

Edwards also pointed out that Amelia Kerr also has bags of experience to partner Vastrakar, and she feels that her side has a ‘balanced’ bowling attack.

Speaking in a select media interaction, the English coach told News18 Cricketnext exclusively that skipper Harmanpreet has plenty of bowling options.

“I think Amelia Kerr’s done pretty well in international cricket so far, as have some of the other players and we are really happy with our bowling options in these conditions,” said Edwards.

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She further added, “Issy Wong is an exciting talent with the ball and we’ve got some really good options domestically as well. Harmanpreet’s got lots of options haven’t you (Kaur nods) and I’m really confident that we’ve got a really well-balanced bowling attack.”

When quizzed if Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians have an advantage going in WPL, given their prior presence in the IPL, Edwards maintained that every team looks strong on paper and it will be all about churning out results on the field.

“It’s only a five-team tournament, all teams are very strong and the calibre of players that we’ve got involved for this tournament are some of the best in the world so, any of the five teams on paper look strong and can win the WPL. It’s all about who plays well over the next 3-4 weeks,” stated the 43-year-old.

Harmanpreet and Co will begin their WPL 2023 campaign in the tournament opener against Gujarat Giants at the DY Patil Stadium on March 4 in Navi Mumbai.

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