Of the many things that the Mumbai Spirit encompasses is the place for cricket in people’s lives amidst all the hustle. After lifting the maiden Women’s Premier League trophy at the Cricket Club of India in front of a loyal and cheering Paltan in the inaugural edition, the Mumbai Indians are all geared up to give their fans a similar celebration of that feat as the final leg of the WPL comes back to Aamchi Mumbai in 2025.

From smashing her maiden international century, to celebrating multiple series victories with India, to bringing home the WPL title in 2023, Mumbai Indians’ skipper, Harmanpreet Kaur, has a had a long love story with the city.

“Mumbai mein time ki bahut value hai (Time is of utmost value in Mumbai),” she said at the Mumbai Indians press conference ahead of WPL 2025.

“One thing which I learnt when I was living here and working for Railways was people don’t like to waste their time. Cricket-wise as well, a lot of my good performances have happened in Mumbai. And then being picked by MI, it couldn’t have been better. I have won a lot of trophies in Mumbai, really happy that we are getting a chance to play in front of our MI Paltan. We really missed them last year,” she added.

After clinching the title in the first edition, being on the receiving end of a heartbreaking last-over loss in the Eliminator in the second, trust the Mumbai Indians to be absolutely geared up for the third. Head Coach, Charlotte Edwards, spoke of the aggressive and entertaining brand of cricket the team has come to be known for.

“The first year was an amazing experience to win the WPL. We played some fantastic cricket last year as well, which is all we can ask for. We spoke in the team that we wanted people to want to turn on their TV and watch Mumbai Indians,” Charlotte said.

“We certainly did that last year. We had some entertaining games of cricket. We missed out by the narrowest of margins, which was disappointing. This year, there is just pure excitement for it, to keep building this team, keep improving, get back to CCI and be in another final this year.”

The impact of the WPL on young girls in India, especially at the grassroot level is something Bowling Coach, Jhulan Goswami, has seen up and close, having been at the forefront of the rise of the women’s cricket over the last 25 years.

“If you go to domestic cricket, you’ll see the girls now want to play a good brand of cricket and impress scouts to play in the WPL. I have travelled to different parts of the country where you would earlier never get recognition, but people now want to know when the next WPL is coming. The impact of the WPL is amazing,” Jhulan said.

One such impact story has been that of Sajana Sajeevan, the all-rounder from Kerala, who rocketed into limelight with a six off the first ball she faced in the WPL to get Mumbai Indians home in a thriller in the 2024 season. Her rise has been equally meteoric, having made her debut for India as well in the months to follow.

“Charlotte, would keep reminding me, ‘SS, you’ll hardly get 2-3 balls, you have to smash it (laughs)’. I was prepared for it. I never thought I would get just one ball. In that situation, I was totally blank. I made my team win and that was my life-changing moment,” Sajana said. 

There are a host of such stories waiting to erupt and such superstars waiting to be unleashed. The third season of the Women’s Premier League begins on February 14, 2025 in Vadodara, and the Mumbai Indians are set to play their first game on February 15, against the Delhi Capitals.