Harmanpreet Kaur is heading to the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Women’s Premier League. The Indian captain was bought out in a bidding war for a whopping Rs 1.8 crore.MI beat competition from the Delhi Capitals (DC), UP Warriorz (UW), and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to bag the premium buy.
She was the second player sold in the first-ever WPL auction after Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana. Mandhana made history by being the first player to be sold in the auction to RCB for a whopping Rs. 3.4 crore.MI failed to sign Mandhana despite bidding up to Rs 3.2 crore.
“I have the opportunity to be part of the Mumbai Indians team and I hope you know we will make a good team and we’ll do what we are there to do.
“I think it’s a game changer for all of us because you know, we are going to experience this pressure for the first time and I’m very excited and at the same time, you know, this will entirely change women’s cricket, not only in India, or even in the world cricket. I think it’s a great initiative and we all are looking forward to that,” said Harmanpreet to Jio Cinema.
“Oh, well, we all are coming to Mumbai, and I hope we’ll get lots of support from Mumbai Indians and, you know, Indian fans are always been very great and we are really looking forward to it. We look forward to contributing to the Mumbai Indians the same way as the men have been doing,” she added.
Harman’s signing means that the both the men’s and women’s captains of the Indian team will be playing for MI. Indian men’s team skipper Rohit plays for MI and has been part of their ranks since 2011. Rohit has led MI to the title five times, which makes him the most successful captain in IPL history.
Harmanpreet has been India’s T20I captain since 2017 and was also named ODI captain after Mithali Raj’s retirement in 2022. She led India to the final of the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup and was the captain of the side that secured a historic silver medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Harmanpreet Singh has appeared in three tests, 124 ODIs, and 147 T20Is for Team India.As far as the T20I format is concerned, she has made 2956 runs runs at an average of 28.15 with one century and nine half-centuries.
Elsewhere, RCB have purchased Mandhana, Ellyse Perry, and Sophie Devine. Gujara Giants signed Ashleigh Gardner, while UP Warriors acquired Sophie Ecclestone.
Harmanpreet is currently leading India in the Women’s T20 World Cup and aiming to become the first Indian captain to win a senior women’s ICC title.
