In this new episode of Backstage with Boria, Mumbai Indians’ head coach Lisa Keightley and mentor Jhulan Goswami reflect on the impact of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) on Indian women’s cricket. They speak about how the WPL has played a key role in shaping talents like Harmanpreet Kaur, giving her added confidence. Jhulan recalled Harmanpreet’s early days and traits that continue to define her. The duo also underlined the rise of young match-winners like Amanjot Kaur and Mrs Nita Ambani’s initiative to back an all-women coaching staff, while Keightley shared her excitement about taking on the coaching challenge.
Boria [To Lisa]: You always wanted to be a part of an all women coaching franchise. First thoughts.
Lisa: Yeah, really nice and refreshing change. When you have females making decisions, you get more influence on what happens below. It’s a great initiative by Mrs (Nita) Ambani. A lot of female coaches with the experience are coming through. Its overall a nice place to be.
Boria [Lisa]: Are you looking at this season as a new season or taking the pressure of being the defending champions?
Lisa: Mumbai Indians (MI) would be here with the mindset to not just participate, but win as well. it was obviously great to win last year and It’s a new year with a new set of players in a new cycle, the goal remaining the same. We will play exciting matches, win them, keep a good momentum and hopefully give ourselves the best chance to be successful again.
Boria [To Jhulan]: What, according to you, is the importance of WPL and also of the Mumbai Indians franchise, which has given us so many good players?
Jhulan: The World Cup win was a watershed moment for women’s cricket. Our girls played phenomenal cricket in that tournament. Talking about WPL, that started in 2023 – the franchises coming together to support women’s cricket in our country was a blessing in itself. Also, domestic girls getting a chance to rub shoulders with quality international players and learn the tricks of the game was huge. And Mumbai Indians also prepare the young girls how to win games, prepare for the game, how to be mentally strong et cetera, and those things turn out to be beneficial when they play at the bigger stages like World Cup.
Boria [To Lisa]: Talk to me a bit about Jhulan Goswami and Harmanpreet Kaur in your set-up as a head coach of MI.
Lisa: About Jhulan, I have had a great relationship with her and it goes back to our own playing days. So, very excited now for an opportunity to work with her again. She is a legend of the sport. She, for many years, was at the forefront of the Indian women’s cricket team. She has been a great resource, coming in as the head coach of MI, and helping me through. She is a good support to have and I consider myself lucky to work with her. The way she is in and around the group always makes me think that one must be a genuine, nice person if current players are still coming to her and discussing the game. She’s very good at what she did on the field and off the field, so she is a great asset to have in my mind.
About Harmanpreet Kaur, I haven’t worked with her before and It’s my first time. The qualities that I have seen in her from afar are that she is competitive, she loves to win, generally performs well on the big stage. Another nice quality is that when she walks out, it looks like the whole team wants to come out and play for her. I always think it’s very good quality when you’re a captain. It proves that you are working well on and off the field, so I’m quite excited for the opportunity. She’s very experienced in what she does and it makes my role a lot easier as a coach. I’m looking forward to building a relationship with her and watching her lead the team just the way she has in the last three seasons.
Boria [To Jhulan]: Word on Nicola Carey coming after a fantastic WBBL (Women’s Big Bash League) season, Milly Illingworth as an exciting prospect, and Shabnim Ismail for whom age is just a number the way she continues to perform. How important will these three be for MI?
Jhulan: Shabnim is always a blessing to have, with the kind of quality bowler she is. She takes a lot of responsibility and has done well in our system, understands the culture and, most important, has very good relation with Harmanpreet. Captain and bowler having good relation always makes the bowler look good. Whenever we need a wicket, Shabnim is always there to do that for our team. Having back her through the auction was a challenge, but now she is here and it’s a blessing.
About Milly Illingworth, she is one young, exciting talent, has done really well in WBBL, has good pace and can bowl 120-plus. Being here, she can grow and learn a lot of good things from Shabnim as well – to eventually be a great asset for the Australian team as well as MI. According to me, having her through the auctions was really great as well.
Nicola Carey has done really well in the past two years. She has been a consistent performer in different franchise leagues. In WBBL, she has been phenomenal; bowling, batting, she has done well wherever she has got an opportunity. Having experienced players like her always plays a big role because experience out of all things is something you cannot buy. These experiences will help us control things better under pressure and provide balance in the team.
Boria [To Lisa]: Mumbai retaining G Kamalini over someone like a Yastika Bhatia, what was the thought process over there? can you give us an insight?
Lisa: Yastika Bhatia’s knee injury did not go in favour of her otherwise we would have loved to keep her. Kamalini, on the other hand, is an exciting player who can play this season, so overall that was the ultimate factor working.
Boria: Inclusion of Kristen Beams as the spin-bowling coach. Give us a bit on the importance and where do you think she will make a difference?
Lisa: There has not been too many opportunities for a spin-bowling coach in the past. The bowling coach is usually the same for all styles of bowling, so if a franchisee is having a spin-bowling coach separately, then they would be considered really special. The connection she (Kristen) has with spin bowlers, the conversations they are going to have, would make Kristen a huge asset. Her strategy, thinking and playing will affect the spinners in a way that they will be in a lot better shape at the end of this tournament. So, Kristen, I would say, is another great addition to MI and the players would love learning from her.
Boria [To Jhulan]: A bit more on Harmanpreet and Amanjot Kaur please.
Jhulan: Have known Harman since 2009 when she was a debutant in Australia during ICC World Cup 2009. I saw her as someone with a lot of potential, courage, wanting to do well in the international circuit. Since that time our journey started, we have had conversations. I understood her mindset because I am also from a small town. As a senior, I was always there for her and the girls, provided the support that was required. There will be a lot of good people around when things are good but when things go down, you need people who can come forward and support you, so I used to do that in the dressing room and that is why our relationship has gone beyond our expectations.
As per performance, she has been a match-winner and having a match-winner adds a lot of value to the team. She grew up with time to be a mature person as a cricketer who also enjoys her leadership role. She tries to build a good team, a good atmosphere in the dressing room, and always wants to do better next time as that’s her mindset. She understands the winning mindset and has already proven that by winning the World Cup. She learned all those things from the experience in MI, and that must have helped her build such a quality team during World Cup. The way she has transformed in the last few years is phenomenal and I love the fact about her that she always takes the right decision under pressure.
Amanjot is one of our favourites, Lisa would also agree. The amount of talent she has, she will bring a lot of value to any team she is put into. She’s a three-dimensional player – she can bat well, she can bowl and also field. She is one of those all-rounders who can be a match-winner, hence a big asset for the MI team. We definitely have prepared her, worked closely with her, where she has improved time and again and has performed well for the team. I hope she continues her form in the World Cup, and I know she is going to play a very important role in Team India as well as in MI.
Boria [To Lisa]: What prompted you to take up the MI challenge?
Lisa: Well, it is a massive franchise, has multiple teams, they don’t take any shortcuts, their practice facility is world-class, their recruitment is first-class. To do an interview, you need to know what you are talking about, so it’s all an exciting part – the journey for me as a coach, wanting to improve, wanting to go into the environment where I feel like I could learn, grow and prove myself as a coach. Mumbai Indians gave me that opportunity. They have a great family, an ‘ethos’ you can sense pretty quickly.
The inclusion and the environment is really exciting, so I am loving the challenge and excited to be coaching Mumbai. Knowing how successful they have been in all the versions is exciting, so you just want to challenge yourself and go out there to win games. Coming to Mumbai was challenging, but I love the expectation and also the real sense of nervousness when you play out there in front of the home crowd. There are parts of being a coach, and if you put yourself in those environments and be the best coach and person, then the players would be able to do what they are here to do and win games for Mumbai.
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