WPL 2024: The Ultimate Guide To Mumbai Indians (MI) Ahead Of The Auction For Women’s Premier League 2024

Mumbai Indians hold the special distinction of being the winners of the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League in 2023. This season undoubtedly will prove to be a litmus test for them to see if they can carry on with the resurgence of the previous season and they will look to come all guns blazing in the WPL 2024.

Winning six out of their eight league stage matches, Mumbai Indians then played brilliantly in the knockouts to win the tournament. Under the captaincy and guidance of Harmanpreet Kaur, the team also boasts of the prolific duo who also secured the ‘Most Valuable Player’ and ‘Purple Cap’ recipient Hayley Matthews, and ‘Emerging Player of the Season’ Yastika Bhatia; the team looks more than formidable to challenge any team on a given day.

Ahead of the WPL 2024 edition, the team retained 13 players and released 4, here is the comprehensive breakdown.

• Retained Players: Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Chloe Tryon, Harmanpreet Kaur, Hayley Matthews, Humairaa Kaazi, Isabelle Wong, Jintimani Kalita, Natalie Sciver-Brunt, Pooja Vastrakar, Priyanka Bala, Saika Ishaque, Yastika Bhatia
• Released Players: Dhara Gujjar, Heather Graham, Neelam Bisht, Sonam Yadav

Superheroes, queens, champions – here are your stars who’ll continue to don the blue-and-gold for the next #WPL season 🥰💙

Read: https://t.co/NfrZbx2eZs#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #AaliRe pic.twitter.com/TSz6T9fnZr

— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) October 19, 2023

Mumbai Indians will now enter the auctions with a purse of 2.1 Crores with 5 available slots and 1 overseas slot remaining. The think tank would certainly strategize to come up with an ideal game plan to execute at the auction to strengthen the existing set-up.

READ MORE: WPL 2024: The Ultimate Guide To Delhi Capitals (DC) Ahead Of The Auction For Women’s Premier League 2024

With the retained core, let us delve into the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis to understand this better

Strengths

The mix of experienced campaigners, youngsters and domestic players makes Mumbai Indians a dominant team to reckon with. The likes of Hayley Matthews, Amelia Kerr, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Issy Wong and Chloe Tryon form a solid and unbelievable foreign core. These are seasoned overseas stars who have time and again proven their mettle with their international sides and with a good WPL 2023 season, they will add a lot of value to the set-up in WPL 2024.

The presence of Indian internationals in Harmanpreet Kaur, Yastika Bhatia, Pooja Vastrakar and Amanjot Kaur with domestic stars like Humairaa Kaazi, Jintimani Kalita, Priyanka Bala and Saika Ishaque gracing the team, Mumbai Indians are a team to envy as they have all their bases covered.

Weaknesses

With such a bolstered batting and bowling attack across all fronts, there does not seem to be any visible or apparent weakness for the Mumbai Indians and that is certainly something that sets them apart. However, microscopically, if one were to gauge areas that would require attention; it certainly has to be their pace bowling department that hinges primarily on Issy Wong although there is support from Pooja Vastrakar, Jintamani Kalita and Amanjot Kaur but with Heather Graham released, they will need some more spice to amp up the pace bowling department.

Opportunities

Mumbai Indians will be walking in with a lot of confidence in WPL 2024 on the back of their brilliant performance last season and will be looking to replicate their heroics as well. Winning two titles on the trot will be a testament to their abilities and what better occasion than this season to achieve that?

It will also be a massive opportunity for Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain to lead her team to glory and making the most of all the players is something she would look to extend this season. For all the domestic players, this would be the perfect platform to shine and learn from the experienced international players.

Threats

Overdependence on the top-flight players to deliver might be a deterrent to their prospects and the looming risk of injuries would be playing in their minds so keeping the players fresh through the tournament will be key. Achieving the perfect balance and finding the right mix of players through the auctions while also ensuring the reserves are match-ready will be of paramount importance.

What they will need to cover at the auctions of WPL 2024?

With five available spots and one overseas player slot left, MI can aspire to acquire the services of:

• A premier pace bowler: A lot of the pace bowling fortunes hinge on Issy Wong and finding the perfect premium pace bowler to complement her will be the key. They can go all out in acquiring the services of a bowler who can add a lot of depth.
• A wicket-keeper batter for the upper and middle order: A domestic pick for the batting can be acquired who can lend a lot of value in case there is a batting collapse. This player can have a multidimensional role serving as a backup keeper to Yastika Bhatia as well.

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