The territory of an auction is always unknown. After seven hours and multiple bids, we’ve stitched in our squad of 17, our dream team. It was a historic day for women’s cricket in general. For us, it was almost like reliving 2008 all over again. This is where the foundation is laid for years to come.

“Auctions are always exciting, but today was really special. It was the first auction, and firsts are always so exciting. Today was really a special day for women’s cricket. It is a historic day. More than the names and the figures, it was just overwhelming to see everyone cheering and celebrating for the wonderful talent of women cricketers. As a team we are very happy with the way our auction turned out, and we are happy to get the second Indian captain for Mumbai Indians. Welcome Harman to the MI family. We are also very excited to see Nat (Sciver) in the team, Pooja (Vastrakar), and all the talented women and young girls who are joining the MI family,” said Mrs. Nita Ambani – Team Owner, Mumbai Indians in a post-auction chat with Mumbai Indians.

“Well I have seen Rohit in Mumbai Indians grow from a player to a captain. This year we complete 10 years of Rohit as a captain for Mumbai Indians, and now we are welcoming Harman to our Mumbai Indians family. Both of them come with great experience, professionalism, the winning mentality, and are a huge inspiration to all our youngsters. Really, really excited to have both these cricketers in our family. I think in India, sports for women is at a turning point. All our young girls are doing well at a global stage and I am just too proud looking at them. Our under-19 team won the World Cup. What joy it has brought to the nation, congratulations to them. Our women’s team did so well yesterday (against Pakistan). More power to these young girls, and whatever we can do in our small way, is a great pride that we can support women in sports and cricket, not just in India but internationally. So Go Girls, make your dreams come true,” she added. 

Our Head Coach, Charlotte Edwards was just as excited with the whole auction process, and the impact the WPL is set on have on future generations.

“Just wonderful to be part here of a historic moment in women’s cricket. It’s just the fact that things change quite quickly in an auction, and how you plan is not necessarily how it kind of ends up. But it was an absolute delight to be part of the day and I am absolutely delighted with the team we have selected. We wanted a core, Indian players and world-renowned international players. We have managed to do that. Really happy with the depth we’ve got in our squad which I think is important with both bat and ball. I am really looking forward to working with the domestic Indian players and obviously the international ones. It is my first time coaching here in India, so it is hugely exciting,” she said. 

“Mumbai Indians is a massive global brand and I am hugely honoured to be part of it. We can do so much to develop cricket all over the world, women’s sport as well. So looking forward to be part of the MI family, and learning about the culture. It has a strong winning culture. Hopefully something we are looking to extend to the women’s team, and me and Jhulan are looking forward to that.”

The legend, Jhulan Goswami, our Mentor and Bowling Coach, too exuded confidence with the team put together and the whole auction experience.

“Very enjoyable experience. There were changes every two seconds (at the auctions), but honestly speaking, it was a lovely experience. We more or less got the players we wanted. Even during a match, I’d never felt this nervous because everyone wants the same players. But a really different experience, I enjoyed it and looking forward to the upcoming season,” she said.

“Playing is a different kind of a challenge. Playing as a mentor is a different kind of a thing. When you are outside the boundary, how you handle the team, it’s important how you express your emotions, and how you are able to control that, giving them the nice environment to make sure they come and enjoy this space and play freely and are able to express their thoughts and emotions. That is going to be an important part and at the same time, we have a good side, a balanced team, a lot of young girls are there. Hopefully we will perform well on the field. I always believe that we cannot win with individual players and we have to win as a group. I am a firm believer in that. As a group we have to have a strong bonding, starting with ma’am leading from the front, with Charlotte, Harman, myself and Devieka. We are going to bring a lot of new values together and bring a new culture to the team. We are here to express our thoughts and our emotions and will play as one team.