3 similarities between MI and MI Women's first title wins

The Mumbai Indians (MI) women's team secured a historic triumph after defeating the Delhi Capitals (DC) to get their hands on the Women's Premier League (WPL). The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side won the final by seven wickets on Sunday, March 26, at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

The women's team were arguably under pressure coming into the tournament, considering how their male counterparts have performed over the years.

The Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians have won five Indian Premier League (IPL) titles, more than any other franchise.

The men's team had a rough start to their first campaign in 2008, losing each of their first four matches. But in stark contrast, Harmanpreet and Co. won their first five matches to become the first franchise to qualify for the playoffs.

When it came to MI's maiden title triumph in 2013, it was a storied tale, to say the least. The franchise was able to give the legendary Sachin Tendulkar a fitting farewell from the IPL.

It was the start of an era under Rohit, who was thrust with the captaincy responsibility midway through the season.

There are a few similarities between the two campaigns where the men's and women's teams bagged their maiden titles.

Here are three such uncanny striking parallelisms between the seasons, which are a decade apart.

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#1 Both teams had an off-spinner as their leading wicket-taker

A distinct similarity between the men's and the women's campaigns was the fact that a spinner ended up being the leading wicket-taker for the team.

While it comes as no surprise that a tweaker was among the wickets considering that the tournament was held in the subcontinent, it is notable that both were right-arm off-spinners.

Hayley Matthews was the leading wicket-taker for the women's side with 16 wickets, including a memorable spell in the final. She also won the Purple Cap for her efforts, narrowly edging out Sophie Ecclestone in the process.

During the 2013 season, it was Harbhajan Singh who led the wickets chart for the men's team. He claimed 24 wickets, the most among spinners across the tournament.

Much like the West Indies all-rounder in the women's edition, he was also the pick among the bowlers in the final, finishing with figures of 2-14, and derailing the lower-middle order.

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#2 MI bowlers dominated the wicket-taking charts

As mentioned before, Hayley Matthews won the Purple Cap in WPL 2023, but it was not a boring race by any means as she was tailed by her teammates.

Four MI bowlers - namely Hayley Matthews, Issy Wong, Amelia Kerr, and Saika Ishaque - were among the top five wicket-takers of the tournament. This was the extent to which the bowlers asserted their dominance.

It was a similar story back in 2013 as well, but with there being nine franchises, the wicket charts were a bit diluted. Nevertheless, the bowling trio of Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Johnson, and Lasith Malinga were among the top 10 wicket-takers in the 2013 edition, while Pragyan Ojha was not far behind either.

In the finals across both editions, bowlers played a mighty part in restricting the opposition. The women's team restricted DC to 131 while bowling first.

The men's team, on the other hand, limited CSK to just 125-9 while defending 148 at Eden Gardens.

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#3 Both teams finished second in the league stage due to their net run rate.

Another similarity that is evident by looking at the points table is the fact that both the men's and women's teams finished second, level on points with the table-topper, but lagging due to an inferior net run rate.

The women's side had a great shot at making it directly to the finals, but their momentum was dented by two consecutive defeats, which the Delhi Capitals (DC) took advantage of. DC finished as table toppers with 10 points and a net run rate of +1.856 while MI's net run rate read +1.711.

The men's team finished second to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) similarly to a very close margin. The MS Dhoni-led side finished the league stage with a net run rate of +0.530, while MI settled for second with a net run rate of +0.440.

Will the silverware continue to rain for the Mumbai Indians in the future? Let us know what you think.