Mumbai, Jan 1 (IANS) Defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) have bolstered their 2026 Women’s Premier League (WPL) preparations with the arrival of former South African fast bowler Shabnim Ismail and the Australian duo of Milly Illingworth and Nicola Carey at their training camp, said the franchise on Thursday.

Over the weekend, MI began their training camp to defend their title in the fourth edition of the WPL. MI have won two of the three WPL seasons so far and will kick off their campaign on January 9 against 2024 champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the DY Patil Stadium.

Shabnim previously played for MI and was brought back by the franchise in the mega auction held in New Delhi in November 2025. For Milly and Nicola, this will be the first time for them featuring in the WPL.

"Here we are. We already started our journey, 2026, and the way these youngsters are coming forward, really excited about this season and with quality players, like Shabnim Ismail. All others will come, but Shabnim is always special - the way she performs and is a genuine quick bowler and competitor, and whenever she's around in our group, the vibes are different.

"So again, looking forward for one more season with her and looking forward that she'll do well the way she has done in the past," said Jhulan Goswami, MI’s bowling coach and mentor.

With the squad coming together steadily and more star players like skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amanjot Kaur to arrive in the coming days, MI are continuing their pre-training programme by focusing on building cohesion, sharpening skills and fine-tuning strategies ahead of the new season.

The 28-day tournament will be played across two venues in Navi Mumbai and BCA Stadium, Vadodara. This is the first time the WPL will be held in the January-February window, after the first three seasons were played in February-March just before the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

--IANS

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