WPL: Mumbai Indians hire Jhulan Goswami as mentor, Charlotte as head coach

Jhulan Goswami. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Mumbai Indians announced the coaching team for its new franchise in the upcoming Women’s Premier League (WPL) scheduled in March 2023. Former England captain Charlotte Edwards will take on the role of head coach.

Jhulan Goswami takes on the dual role of the team mentor and bowling coach. Devieka Palshikaar, an all-rounder, who represented India at the international level, will be the batting coach while Trupti Chandgadkar Bhattacharya will be the team manager.

Nita M. Ambani, said “I am delighted to welcome Charlotte Edwards, Jhulan Goswami, and Devieka Palshikaar to the MI #OneFamily. It is wonderful to see more and more women in sports, excelling not just as players, but also as coaches, administrators, and support staff.

“This is an exciting time for women’s sport in India. Our female athletes have consistently made the nation proud on the international stage! More power to women as they spread joy and cheer through the power of sport, and inspire a whole new generation of empowered women! We remain committed to supporting them in every possible way to scale even greater heights!

“Speaking about the new coaching team, Ms. Ambani added, “I am sure that under Charlotte’s brilliant leadership and with the able support of our bowling coach and mentor Jhulan and our batting coach Devieka, our women’s team will build on and carry forward MI’s iconic legacy. I look forward to working closely with our coaches and the entire team on this very exciting journey ahead.”

Charlotte Edwards is widely regarded as one of women’s cricket all-time greats having a career spanning 20 years. She has captained England and led the team to an ODI and T20I World Cup win. For the past 5 years, she has been extensively coaching teams across England and Australia. She has been honoured by the Order of the British Empire as an MBE in 2009 and a CBE in 2014 and has won numerous awards and accolades as player and coach.

The English women’s cricket Twenty20 domestic competition organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board is named the Charlotte Edwards Cup, and in 2022, Charlotte was inducted into the ICC Hall of fame.

Jhulan Goswami, a Padma Shri, and Arjuna Awardee is known for exceptional bowling skills. Having inspired and scripted many wins for India with the ball, Goswami is considered to be one of the greatest bowlers to ever play the sport.

A career spanning 20 years, with over 350 international wickets, she holds the record of taking the highest number of wickets in women’s ODI history and the most wickets at the Women’s World Cups.

She rose to number one in the ICC Women’s ODI bowling rankings in January 2016 and post her retirement has been helping groom the next generation of cricketers as mentor of Bengal Women’s team.

Devieka Palshikaar, an all-rounder who represented India, played as a right-handed batter and right-arm leg-break bowler. She was also a player and coach of the Assam Woman’s team from 2009 to 2012.

After her playing career, Palshikaar was assistant coach of India between 2014 and 2016, and assistant coach of Bangladesh, winning the 2018 Asian cup with them. In India, she has coached various Indian domestic teams, and was head coach of Velocity for the 2022 Women’s T20 Challenge which made it to the finals.

Trupti Chandgadkar Bhattacharya, is a former cricketer, former manager of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team and former selector at MCA. The coaching team, comprising of these three stalwarts, will train, nurture and mentor the newly minted women’s cricket team to give it the edge Mumbai Indians is known for.

Mumbai Indians recently won the bid for Mumbai’s team in the Women’s Premier League (WPL), making it the fourth franchise in its MI #OneFamily. Through this franchise, MI aims at continuing its efforts to support the development of women’s cricket in India.