Ahead of the upcoming season, Mumbai Indians have appointed Kristen Beams as their spin-bowling coach. Beams, a former international cricketer for Australia, will be starting her assignment as a coach for the first time, as the franchise looks to defend its title in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2026, starting January 9. 

Starting her journey as a coach, Beams expressed her excitement to be joining the Mumbai Indians camp. The two-time champions are like a family, and the bonding within the group is extremely tight, she reckoned. The 41-year-old further added that it is exactly the kind of set-up that a coach would want to join, where she also gets to spend time alongside Jhulan Goswami, MI's bowling coach and mentor.

“It's my first time back as a coach, and it's an incredible opportunity to work with someone like Jhulan Goswami, one of the greats of the game, 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.

"It's like a a family, and it's what you want to be a part of, and 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,” Kristen Beams told in a video posted by Mumbai Indians' official social media handle.

Speaking of MI, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side will be starting their title defence in the tournament opener against Smriti Mandhana's Royal Challengers Bengaluru on January 9 at the Dr.

MI Women squad for WPL 2026: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amanjot Kaur, Hayley Matthews, G Kamalini, Amelia Kerr, Shabnim Ismail, Sanskriti Gupta, Sajeevan Sajana, Rahila Firdous, Nicola Carey, Poonam Khemnar, Triveni Vasistha, Nalla Reddy, Saika Ishaque, Milly Illingworth