Kiran Navgire loves finishing games. Her personal coach Gulzar Sheikh shares an aspiration the swashbuckling batter has had for a long time: 'To finish matches for India by hitting a six like her idol MS Dhoni.'

From her WhatsApp status that reads, 'cricket god MSD' to playing with a bat that has the former Indian captain's initials scribbled on it, Navgire has been aboard the Dhoni hype train since she first saw him hit that World Cup-winning six. So it was only poetic that a promotion up the batting order - à la Dhoni 2005 - brought her out of a slump. Having played all nine games for UPW last season, she'd only scored 155 runs. The streak of low scores continued in the Senior Women's T20 Trophy last year, and in the first two games in this year's WPL. With her place in the playing XI at stake, Navgire would waltz into head coach Jon Lewis on the eve of the game against Mumbai. 'I want to open,' she'd tell him, as shared by captain Alyssa Healy after their win on Wednesday. It's this confidence that's got her so far in her journey. Coach Sheikh shares having been at the receiving end of it after a T20 Challenger Trophy game in Pune. 'She was playing in such a big tournament for the first time and told me before going out to bat, 'I'll open my mark with my favorite shot.' And she did so, a sweep shot off the first ball for six. When she returned I told her, 'That's a risky thing to do'. Her gentle reply was, 'I can do it, sir'. She isn't overconfident, it's the belief that drives her,' he tells The Indian Express.