Saika Ishaque is not far from the India cap: Parthiv Patel

The Mumbai Indians enjoyed a memorable night at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Monday as the team won their second straight match of the Women's Premier League (WPL) by nine wickets against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. RCB’s modest total of 155 runs ultimately proved paltry for the duo of Hayley Matthews (77 off 38 balls) and Nat Sciver-Brunt (55 off 29 balls), as MI chased down the target in only 14.2 overs. Matthews also picked up 3/28.

Notably, MI’s left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque claimed 2/26 that helped her become the holder of the WPL Purple Cap, with a total of six wickets in two matches. Parthiv Patel, a WPL expert for Sports18 and JioCinema, praised Ishaque’s efforts and said she may get the opportunity to debut for India soon.

“I think Saika was brilliant today. She was brilliant in the last game also. She keeps it simple in the way she bowls. She’s been playing domestic cricket for a while, though she has not played for India, but she has that experience,” he said.

“This is what the WPL does to you, even though you perform well in domestic cricket, this is the bigger stage. When you perform you get noticed and I don’t think she’s far away from getting that India cap,” added Patel.

Patel also highlighted MI’s rich legacy in the IPL as a result of which players are always motivated to play freely. “The atmosphere that they have provided. We have seen it multiple times. Even when the coach said that players like Hayley Matthews go into franchise cricket to express themselves. If you put them under pressure, the fear of getting out plays a part. When you play for the Mumbai Indians, you aren’t scared of getting out. You know you’ll get opportunities and when you’re playing T20 cricket, you have to take chances,” explained Patel.

WPL expert for Sports18 and JioCinema, Reema Malhotra, hailed MI as the best team in the WPL. “The reason I think this is the best team is because of the number of all-rounders they have, the number of match-winners they have. They start with (Hayley) Matthews and then have Harman in the middle, Nat Sciver-Brunt is showing her skills. This is a team that’s full of match-winners, players who can win you games on their day,” concluded Malhotra after the game.