The weight of carrying the mantle of being the defending champions can always play a role in the mind, with expectations greater than the previous year to try and regain the title.
Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur, however, believes that her side is confident of taking the pressure of being the reigning Women’s Premier League (WPL) champions, by keeping things simple and staying as relaxed as possible before the tournament opener against Delhi Capitals in Bengaluru’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday.
“We just kept our preparations very simple. We are trying not to expect too much from ourselves and do too many things. That was our approach last year too and we want to continue that. We are feeling very confident going into this match and tournament,” Kaur said in the pre-match press meet on Thursday.
One of the picks at the auction held in December was left-arm wrist spinner Amandeep Kaur and the 34-year-old said that she would add variety and a mystery element to the MI attack this season.
“I have not seen any other woman cricketer who bowls left-arm wrist spin. She is a good pick for us. You need variety in T20 cricket and sometimes the batters get used to your regular bowlers.
“She is someone who has played more than 30 domestic games this year and played well in them too. She looked confident in our practice games too,” she said.
Kaur also felt that MI had prepared well before the start of the tournament and expressed confidence in putting up a good show in the second edition of the tournament.
“We used the facilities in Mumbai ahead of the WPL. We played a few practice games as well so that we could try some new combinations and the players too get a chance to work upon their game.”
“We feel that we are ready for the game. Last year, we had to do extra team-bonding sessions and this time we got some more time on the field training,” she said.
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