Mumbai Indians women's side is gearing up for their title defence at the second edition of the Women's Premier League. The MI side was well powered by Harmanpreet Kaur and Saika Ishaque among the Indian players for their title in the first season of the tournament.
Despite not many Indian players showing up for the title-winning side in the previous year, batting coach Devieka Palshikaar has said that there is no pressure on the domestic players. "I can talk about MI players because I don't think the kind of atmosphere we have, our players will take any pressure. Our Indian domestic players also perform at par with international players, so for MI, I can say there is no pressure at all," Palshikaar told PTI.
There were some foreign players playing crucial roles for the MI side during the first season including Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Mathews. Notably, for other teams too, some foreign players were in brilliant form including Meg Lanning and Sophie Ecclestone. MI wicket-keeper batter Yastika Bhatia has said that she has learnt a lot from them. I got to learn a lot from the international stars.
They have performed so well for their countries and now they are doing it for MI team in WPL,” she said.
“I batted alongside Hayley Mathews in the opening (slot). We used to talk a lot in between overs how we have to approach the next over or how the power play has to go and then after that,” she added.
“She used to help me a lot and calm me a down lot, like asking ‘are you doing fine’. Even Nat Sciver (Brunt) had really impressed me in the last tournament and the last two innings which he played for us that really inspired me,” Bhatia said.
