ODI World Cup: Defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) have appointed former Australia leg-spinner Kristen Beams as their spin bowling coach for the 2026 Women's Premier League (WPL) season, the franchise announced on Monday.
“It's my first time as a coach here. It's an incredible opportunity to work with someone like Jhulan Goswami, one of the greats of the game, and somebody I played cricket against.
“Incredible culture that they've developed a winning culture over a really long period of time, but a family, and that's what you hear everyone talk about, that this group is so tight knit, and it's a family, and it's what you want to be a part of,” said Kristen in a video posted on the franchise’s Instagram account on Monday.
Kristen was an instrumental player in Australia's World Cup campaigns, finishing as the third-highest wicket-taker in the 2017 Women’s ODI World Cup in England. Her international career spanned 1 Test, 30 ODIs and 18 T20Is, and 45 T20 games in the WBBL, before she ended her playing career to move to coaching.
“I think as a coach coming in, that's exactly what you want to be able to do, is to walk into an environment that feels really tight knit, and a team that knows how to win,” added Kristen.
Kristen brings a proven coaching pedigree to the MI set-up featuring head coach Lisa Keightley, bowling coach and mentor Jhulan Goswami, batting coach Devieka Palshikaar and fielding coach Nicole Bolton.
“I think as a coach coming in, that's exactly what you want to be able to do, is to walk into an environment that feels really tight knit, and a team that knows how to win,” added Kristen.
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WPL 2026 will run from January 9 to February 5 and will be played in Navi Mumbai and Vadodara. MI, the two-time champions are led by India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, and will open their campaign against Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.