WPL 2026: Mumbai Indians Aim To Defend Title As Harmanpreet Kaur Leads With All-Female Coaching

WPL 2026: Mumbai Indians will launch their Women’s Premier League title defence against RCB on 9 January 2026, with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur calling Mumbai a special venue and stressing that the team enters the new season with strong belief after recent success for both the franchise and the Indian women’s cricket team.

Harmanpreet has recently led India to World Cup success and now carries that confidence into the Mumbai Indians set-up, where the franchise, already the most successful side in the competition, targets another trophy in WPL 2026 after lifting two titles across the last three seasons.

Explaining the group’s approach at the pre-season press conference in Mumbai on 7 January 2026, Harmanpreet said, "Whenever I go on the field, I tell my team that I want to win the trophy. This new year starts with the WPL and I have the same energy and excitement going into the tournament. We have the same mindset. We have won two trophies in the last three seasons. And we want to play well this season and win the trophy again," underlining the consistent ambition within the dressing room.

Harmanpreet also described a strong emotional link with the city, noting past success at local grounds. "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. 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," Harmanpreet stated, highlighting hopes for another productive campaign.

The season marks the first WPL campaign at Mumbai Indians for head coach Lisa Keightley, a two-time World Cup winner with Australia, who will guide an all-female support group that reflects both the franchise philosophy and Nita M. Ambani’s stated focus on increasing opportunities for women within sport and leadership roles.

Lisa outlined how the coaching panel fits that wider objective, saying, "To have a full female coaching panel is really exciting and something different for me. We're giving an opportunity for supporters and females across the world to actually see females in the coaching space. From that point of view, I would love to see it more often and I think over the next 10 years you'll see that." "To have a female leader in powerful positions making decisions as Mrs. Ambani also plays a part in why we've got females in our coaching staff. So it starts at the top and it's filtered down. So it's really fantastic to have those opportunities," Lisa added, linking decision-making at ownership level to the current structure.

Mumbai Indians mentor and bowling coach Jhulan Goswami welcomed Lisa’s arrival and highlighted the potential benefits for players and staff. Jhulan said, "It's a blessing to work with her as she has 20 years of coaching experience. We can learn a lot under her leadership. At MI, we believe that women should always come forward and I think having an all-female coaching team is the best thing for us." The franchise has also kept the core of last season’s title-winning squad, aiming for stability as Mumbai Indians chase another deep run in WPL 2026.

With confidence from India’s World Cup triumph, a retained champion core, and an all-female coaching unit led by Lisa Keightley alongside senior figures such as Harmanpreet Kaur and Jhulan Goswami, Mumbai Indians enter WPL 2026 as established contenders, looking to extend their strong record in a city that Harmanpreet considers especially favourable for performances and results.