India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and vice captain Smriti Mandhana believe the Women’s Premier League (WPL) will play a pivotal role in pushing the national side towards its next big goal, the T20 World Cup 2026, insisting that the team’s ambition extends far beyond a single global triumph.
Speaking ahead of the opening match of WPL 2026, where Harmanpreet will lead Mumbai Indians and Mandhana will captain Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the senior duo underlined how the league can help sustain the momentum generated by India’s recent ODI World Cup success and sharpen the squad for the challenges ahead.
“Winning the T20 World Cup would be great,” Mandhana said. “We won the (ODI) World Cup but there are a lot of things in the team we need to work on. We really want to sit back and say, ‘yeah we are the best team in the world and world’s No. 1 team’. I feel we still have a lot of things to improve on. I’m sure WPL is going to bridge that gap for us in the coming years.”
Mandhana stressed that India’s objective is sustained dominance rather than isolated success, pointing to the WPL as a crucial stepping stone in that journey.
“Whenever we play for India, we always discuss how we want to be the best team in the world not for one tournament or two tournaments, but the whole year – any cricket we play (we want to) dominate it. I think every WPL is just getting us closer to that.”
She added that the timing of the league, coming shortly after the World Cup win, makes it even more significant. “It’s just been one-and-a-half months (since India won the ODI World Cup) and WPL is going to carry it (the momentum)… I’m sure WPL is going to carry the momentum of what the World Cup did and hopefully it just keeps continuing for the next… forever,” Mandhana said.
Harmanpreet echoed those sentiments, saying India’s hunger has only grown since lifting the World Cup and credited the WPL for fostering a relentless winning mindset across generations.
“…we are not satisfied with just one World Cup,” Harmanpreet said. “We have so much cricket coming up this year and in the next two-three years, so every time we go to the field we want to go with the best mindset and that winning mindset we have been always talking about,” Kaur said.
The India skipper highlighted how younger players are increasingly aligned with the seniors’ outlook. “It’s good to see that not only us, but other players are also coming up and thinking and speaking that we want to be champions all the time. I think that shows how WPL has made a lot of impact on us.”
Harmanpreet also pointed to the league’s role in preparing players for high-pressure international cricket.
“Players are not in their comfort zone now. They are working really hard, they are playing against overseas players, they are playing with overseas players… Now that gap is not there which we used to feel when they [used to] come for international cricket.”
With less than six months to go before the T20 World Cup in England, Mandhana noted that the WPL also remains an open window for emerging talent.
“It’s always exciting to see talent coming up in WPL… if there’s an exciting talent and someone has got an extraordinary season, I’m sure there will be a chance for the T20 World Cup,” she said, adding that strong performances in the league can keep selection doors firmly open.