Ahead of Friday’s eliminator clash in WPL 2024 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians batting coach Devieka Palshikaar stated she is hopeful about the pattern which happened with the defending champions last year repeating in the ongoing season.
In WPL 2023, MI had blown hot and cold in their pursuit of reaching the knockouts, where they were to face UP Warriorz, who had defeated them by five wickets in the league stage clash before the eliminator.
In that knockout clash, an all-round performance from Nat Sciver-Brunt and a hat-trick by Issy Wong propelled MI to thrash Warriorz by 72 runs and eventually win the title. In WPL 2024, though MI have won five games, they also suffered three losses.
Moreover, they were blown away by Ellyse Perry’s 6-15 and 40 not out in their last league game as RCB improved their head-to-head record against MI 1-1 this season. Devieka, the former India batter, sees that pattern as a good omen for her team.
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“Don’t you think history is repeating? We lost against UP Warriorz last season in the league and had a slightly up-down season towards the end. We then bounced back in the Eliminator with a largely one-sided win. This time too the same pattern has persisted so far and we’re looking at it as a good luck sign,” she said in the pre-match press conference.
From MI’s perspective, captain Harmanpreet Kaur holds the key with the bat, again. Though Harmanpreet hasn’t consistently set WPL 2024 on fire, she is her team’s leading run-getter in the competition with 235 runs in six games, at an average of 58.75 and a strike rate of 146.87.
Harmanpreet showed signs of being back at her beast mode when she smashed a sensational 95 not off 48 balls, as MI collected 91 runs in the last six overs to chase down 191 with a ball to spare against the Gujarat Giants, also the highest successful chase in the history of the competition.
Before the strategic Time-Out at the end of the 13th over, Harmanpreet was at 18 off 19 balls with two boundaries. After that, she initiated a stunning acceleration by smashing 77 off the next 29 balls, including hitting eight fours and five sixes, to hold the record for the highest score by an Indian batter at the WPL.
Devieka acknowledged Harmanpreet didn’t have the best of times in the home series against Australia and England, but felt her ability to flick a switch in the innings comes from the intuition of the right-handed batter while practising for the match.
“I won’t take any credit for Harman’s performances in this season as she has her personal batting coach. With us, what we have been doing here is to give her practice, and motivation and keep her mentally peaceful. Credit should go to her who she’s working with, which is the reason behind this mystery.”
“Every batter has a way of preparing before a match. Harmanpreet is someone who’s keen to say that she needs this or that kind of knocking before a game. A player’s inner voice does guide them in saying that preparation has to be done in a certain way.”
“I remember she was asking me before that knock of 95 for more lofted shots, which was the first such instance of Harmanpreet asking about it. She usually does knocking in a different way, but that day, she was different. Her inner voice may have told her to do things differently that day.”
Devieka also confirmed that wicketkeeper-opener Yastika Bhatia, who missed Mumbai’s last league match against RCB due to an illness, is recovering well and is well on track to be back in the playing eleven for Friday’s Eliminator. It would mean that Sajana Sajeevan will be back to her finishing role, with wicketkeeper-batter Priyanka Bala going out of the playing eleven.
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