Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 28 (ANI): Two-time champions Mumbai Indians will be confident, heading into a new season of the Women's Premier League in 2026 from January 9, after managing to retain most of the previous champions from the team at the mega auction in New Delhi on Thursday, the franchise said in a statement.

Speaking about the thought process, Nita M Ambani said, 'Auction days are really exciting but sometimes unnerving too. Our strategy was to win back as many players as possible from our winning team of 2025. I am very excited to get Amelia Kerr back and our four Ss: Shabnim, Saika, Sajana and Sanskriti. We are very excited to welcome three young girls - Rahila Firdous, Nalla Kranthi Reddy and Triveni Vashisth. I take this opportunity to welcome Poonam Khemnar, Milly Illingworth and Nicola Carey into the Mumbai Indians family.'

In addition to the retained core of captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Hayley Matthews, Amanjot Kaur and G Kamalini, MI managed to get back Amelia Kerr, the player of the tournament at the most recent T20 World Cup, as well as S Sajana, Saika Ishaque, Sanskriti Gupta and veteran pacer Shabnim Ismail.

India's World Cup-winning captain, Harmanpreet, was also present at the auction in New Delhi, adding her expertise to the auction table discussions and tactics.

Sharing her thoughts on her experience, Harmanpreet, who is also the captain of the Mumbai Indians, said, 'Initially, I was a little nervous, but I loved how we planned for this and everyone's involvement, especially Nita Ma'am's involvement. She has always been our biggest support and always backs us. We have got most of our old teammates back, so that shows what kind of trust and confidence we have in them.'

The five players bought back have been pivotal to MI's successes in the past, with Saika, Sajana and Sanskriti being breakout stars in the tournament after being discovered by MI and handed their debuts.

In addition to the established names, MI onboarded the Australian duo of all-rounder Nicola Carey, a winner of multiple World Cups with Australia and young pace sensation Milly Illingworth.

True to its policy of backing young Indian talent, MI rounded out a well-balanced squad by adding Indian all-rounders Nalla Kranthi Reddy and Triveni Vasistha, who will be making their WPL debut.

The experienced duo of Madhya Pradesh captain Rahila Firdous and Poonam Khemnar will bring significant domestic experience to the side. (ANI)