Where they finished last year
Mumbai Indians (MI) lifted their second WPL trophy in three years and handed Delhi Capitals (DC) another runners-up finish. MI finished the league stage on second spot behind DC before thrashing Gujarat Giants in the Eliminator. They then defended 149 in the final to clinch the game by eight runs.
What's new in 2026
MI's squad changed the least among the five teams at the recent auction. They retained their core as much as they could and then bought back Amelia Kerr - by spending more than half their purse on her - Shabnim Ismail, Saika Ishaque, S Sajana, Sanskriti Gupta at the auction.
Their new recruits include Australian quicks Nicola Carey and Milly Illingworth, domestic allrounders Triveni Vasistha, Kranthi Reddy and Poonam Khemnar, and batter Rahila Firdous. It was surprising that MI let go of South Africa's big-hitting allrounder Nadine de Klerk - one of the heroes of the recent World Cup - before the auction where she was snaffled by RCB.
The biggest change in MI's camp will be head coach Lisa Keightley taking over from Charlotte Edwards, who is now in charge of the England women's team. Keightley brings with her a wealth of coaching experience: she also coached England Women earlier and is currently coaching Sydney Thunder (WBBL) and recent champions Northern Superchargers (women's Hundred) in the franchise circuit.
MI also added former Australia legspinner Kristen Beams to their coaching staff recently.
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Strengths and weaknesses
With their core mostly intact, MI have a wealth of match-winning allrounders in their squad of 16. Starting from Nat Sciver-Brunt, Kerr, Hayley Matthews, Harmanpreet Kaur, Amanjot Kaur and Carey to the still unproven domestic allrounders, MI have an enviable squad depth. They have their power-hitters at the top, finishers, pace-bowling options and match-winning spinners, who could all come together to excel in both Navi Mumbai and Vadodara to help them lift their third title.
One of their concerns from the start has been an opening partner for Matthews. It was Yastika Bhatia until now but after 2025 proved to be her worst WPL season with an average of just 9.77 and a strike rate of 101.14 from 10 innings, MI let her go and retained 17-year-old G Kamalini instead. Kamalini is now expected to partner Matthews, and the recent India debutant has a big opportunity to cement her place in one of the best T20 sides in the world in the lead up to the T20 World Cup.
Players to watch
G Kamalini: A World Cup winner with the India Under-19 side in the 2025 edition, wicketkeeper Kamalini is set to open for MI. An aggressive left-hand batter, she first made news in age-group cricket for Tamil Nadu and faced only 25 balls last WPL but is set to get a good run in the coming season.
Milly Illingworth is just 20 and made waves a couple of years ago with her raw pace and action modelled on Jeff Thomson's. With 18 WBBL wickets from three seasons, she will now get a chance to work under Shabnim Ismail to hone her skills further and maybe prove to be her successor.
Best XI and rest of the squad
1 G Kamalini (wk), 2 Hayley Matthews, 3 Nat Sciver-Brunt, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Amelia Kerr, 6 Amanjot Kaur, 7 Poonam Khemnar, 8 S Sajana, 9 Sanskriti Gupta, 10 Shabnim Ismail, 11 Saika Ishaque
Rest of the squad: Rahila Firdous, Nicola Carey, Triveni Vasistha, Kranthi Reddy, Milly Illingworth
First three fixtures
January 9 vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru
January 10 vs Delhi Capitals
January 13 vs Gujarat Giants