MUMBAI: Mumbai Indians on Sunday named England’s Charlotte Edwards as chief coach of its Women’s Premier League team ahead of the inaugural tournament to be held in India in March.

The 44-year-old former England captain has coached cricket teams in Australia and her own country for the last five years.

The Mumbai Indians, owned by tycoon Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, are the most successful franchise in the men’s Indian Premier League with five trophies.

Last month, India’s cricket board auctioned off five women’s WPL teams for $572.5 million.

The franchise also announced Jhulan Goswami as the team’s mentor and bowling coach alongside all-rounder Devika Palshikaar as batting coach and Trupti Chandgadkar Bhattacharya as team manager.

Goswami topped the ICC Women’s ODI bowling rankings in 2016 and also holds the records for the highest number of wickets (350) in women’s ODI history and the most wickets in women’s World Cups.

Palshikaar has coached teams in India and Bangladesh and won the Asia Cup with the latter in 2018. Bhattacharya is a former manager of the Indian women’s cricket team.

“It is wonderful to see more and more women in sport, excelling not just as players, but also as coaches, administrators, and support staff,” Nita Ambani, a director at Reliance and Mukesh’s spouse, said in a statement. “This is an exciting time for women’s sport in India,” she said.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2023