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His effort helped Nepal bowl USA out for just 35, the joint-lowest total in ODIs

Peter Della Penna in Kathmandu12-Feb-2020Nepal’s teenage legspinner Sandeep Lamichhane played a central role in a history-making day at Tribhuvan University Stadium on Wednesday morning, turning in the second-best ever figures by an Associate bowler in ODIs. His career-best 6 for 16 in just six overs helped Nepal bowl USA out for just 35. It was the joint-lowest total in ODIs and the shortest completed innings in ODI cricket, wrapped up in just 12 overs.”It’s a fantastic feeling to be on that list [of best figures in ODI cricket],” Lamichhane said after the match that lasted less than two hours. “But if you talk about 6 for 16, it’s for the team and the team is important for us. Two wins out of four [matches], still 32 games to go [in the World Cup League 2] and beating the top team in the league so far, I think it’s a positive sign for us.”USA had entered the ODI tri-series in Nepal – that also includes Oman – as the table leaders in the seven-team WCL 2 tournament that continues until 2022. But the USA team leaves Kathmandu licking their wounds with four consecutive losses. Oman won their four matches to jump over USA to be at the top of the table.It also continues a historic trend of Nepal spinners having tremendous success against USA. On USA’s last visit to Nepal in 2010 for the WCL Division 5, teenage left-arm spinner Rahul Vishwakarma took 7 for 15 to lead a win for Nepal in the tournament final. Left-arm spinner Basant Regmi also took back-to-back five-wicket hauls against USA in twin victories at 2012 WCL Division 4 in Malaysia. However, none of those tournaments had ODI status as they were played long before both nations attained their current ODI status.Among Associate players, Lamichhane’s figures are behind only Rashid Khan’s 7 for 18 against West Indies, just weeks before Afghanistan were granted Test status. Lamichhane jokingly responded at the post-match press conference that Rashid is “a Test player now, so forget that! Number One!” as he pointed to himself, sparking laughter from the assembled media.Lamichhane’s performance was also noteworthy because he did it with the new ball after Nepal chose to field first. The spinner has had a regular habit of bowling in the powerplay in franchise T20 cricket and said his experiences in various competitions bowling with a hard new ball helped him in his record performance in what was the shorted completed ODI in history, lasting a total of 17.2 overs.”I’ve been bowling for the last two years with the new ball. So I’ve got that experience how to give that rip with the new ball. It’s all about the backing you get from the captain as well and the kind of response he is giving to my bowling as well. So the belief and trust from the captain, that was the thing that helped me to perform like that today.”

The attention now shifts to the main one-day event as the two teams, in vastly different positions at the start of the final run-in to the tournament, face each other in Sydney

The Preview by Andrew McGlashan11-Jan-20197:26

Hodge: Both teams seem to lack good death bowlers

Big Picture

Five days after the end of the Test series, where India celebrated their historic victory, the attention now shifts to the main one-day event of the year: Mission World Cup.These are two teams in vastly different positions at the start of the final run-in to the tournament in England. Australia, the defending champions, have won three of their last 24 games since the end of January 2017 and have a multitude of questions over their team. India, one of the favourites, are very close to knowing the players they’ll take.The contrast was stark in the build-up days with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli saying it’s unlikely they’ll be many changes from the squad on show in Australia – save for the rested Jasprit Bumrah to return and some competition for the reserve pace-bowling slots – while Australia captain Aaron Finch confirmed another much-changed XI with new players in new positions and incumbent players taking new roles.Just matching up the top three of both teams doesn’t feel like a contest: Finch, Alex Carey and Usman Khawaja against Rohit, Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli. If India’s top trio fire, as they did consistently last season, they will be very hard to stop for a new-look Australia bowling attack.While India can think of the World Cup from a position of strength, Australia are desperate for short-term success as well. They have yet to win a series in any format since the ball-tampering scandal. It would certainly go against the form guide if they ended that run here.

Form guide

(last five completed matches)
Australia LWLLL
India WWLTW

In the spotlight

Glenn Maxwell has prompted significant debate in the last few days with his continued Test omission and now he finds himself at No. 7 in the one-day side, tasked with bringing power to the latter stages of an innings. He appeared somewhat frustrated in that role against South Africa in Hobart earlier this season and it is unlikely to provide much chance to build an innings although Finch offered the prospect of him moving up the order in certain situations.Does MS Dhoni have a final hurrah in him at the World Cup? A great player, he has looked a shadow of his former self in recent times and hasn’t passed fifty in 14 ODI innings. That is partly due to batting behind a mighty top order, but even when given the chance to dictate a passage of play he hasn’t seemed to have the touch of old. One thing in his favour, however, is that his glovework remains sharp and he continues to produce some terrific work against the spinners.

Team news

All change, please. Australia have mixed things up in their one-day side again in the search for answers. Carey will open with Finch, with the recalled Khawaja and Peter Handscomb either side of Shaun Marsh. Peter Siddle will play his first ODI in more than eight years while Adam Zampa misses out. Mitchell Marsh was ruled out yesterday due to illness.Australia: 1 Aaron Finch (capt), 2 Alex Carey (wk), 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Shaun Marsh, 5 Peter Handscomb, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Glenn Maxwell, 8 Peter Siddle, 9 Jhye Richardson, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Jason BehrendorffHardik Pandya and KL Rahul are not available for selection, as the BCCI mulls their fate following their controversial comments on an Indian TV show. In an ideal world Pandya provides the balance that allows three seamers and two spinners, but in his absence Ravindra Jadeja is the all-round option while another seamer plays.India: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Khaleel Ahmed, 11 Mohammed Shami

Pitch and conditions

After the damp end to the Test match and more rain in recent days, the good news is that the forecast for a warm, sunny Saturday in Sydney. The SCG pitch has been flat this season which should bode well for a high-scoring contest although there appeared a decent covering of grass left on the surface.

Stats and Trivia

• The teams have played 16 ODIs at the SCG with Australia winning 13 and India two. India won the most recent encounter in 2016, chasing down 331 with two balls. Australia had centuries from David Warner and Mitchell Marsh while India were steered home by Manish Panday’s 104 off 81 balls
• Dhawan needs 65 runs for 5000 in ODIs; Jadeja needs 18 for 2000 runs; Bhuvneshwar needs one wicket for 100
• Carey, who will open in ODIs for the first time, has a strike-rate opening the batting in List A cricket is 75.55 from 19 innings

Quotes

“While it would have been great to have a settled side for the last 18 months there’s still enough time to get it right and make sure come that World Cup that we are ready to go with a really balanced and settled side.”
Aaron Finch on getting the team right”We’ve been wanting to figure out who apart from Bhuvi and Bumrah are the two or three guys we can bank on. And these games will provide an opportunity for those guys to firstly present their case strongly and secondly gain confidence from playing these games.”
Virat Kohli on the battle for seam-bowling spots

NSW suffered a stutter in their pursuit of 128 when they lost three wickets in four overs after a 72-run opening stand, but Man-of-the-Match Daniel Hughes steered the side home

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Nov-2017
ScorecardFile Photo – Sean Abbott picked up a four-for in the second innings•Getty Images

New South Wales surged to their third successive win of the Sheffield Shield, with a six-wicket win over Queensland in Brisbane, needing a little over 30 overs to chase down a target of 128.NSW already had an upper hand when play resumed on the third day, having reduced Queensland to 5 for 129. The pace trio of Sean Abbott, Trent Copeland and Doug Bollinger went on to wrap up Queensland for 215, the only resistance coming from batsman Marnus Labuschagne, who battled to 88.NSW’s modest fourth-innings pursuit suffered a stutter when they lost three wickets in four overs. That slide, however, came after the openers David Warner and Nic Maddinson had already added 72 for the first wicket to take command. While Warner scored 37, Steven Smith was dismissed for 9, and it was left to Man-of-the-Match Daniel Hughes to see NSW home. Three of NSW’s four wickets were taken by Luke Feldman.

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2016
ScorecardKiran Carlson•Getty Images

An extraordinary opening day’s cricket on which 20 wickets fell and 373 runs were scored ended with Leicestershire and Glamorgan on something close to even terms in their Specsavers County Championship Division Two match at Grace Road.Only Kiran Carlson prospered with the bat barely a week after becoming the youngest player to score a first-class century for Glamorgan, against Essex at Chelmsford.Glamorgan skipper Jacques Rudolph exercised the away team’s right to bowl first, a decision based on atmospheric conditions rather than the appearance of the pitch, and there were no signs of the carnage to come as Leicestershire recovered from the early loss of Angus Robson, caught at third slip off the bowling of Michael Hogan.Paul Horton and Neil Dexter looked in control before Dexter, unluckily, was bowled off the inside edge trying to force a wide delivery from Craig Meschede through the off side. Horton was then given leg before to a Timm van der Gugten inswinger, and the procession continued when both Ned Eckersley and then Mark Pettini were caught behind off successive balls throwing the bat at wide deliveries.The in-form Mark Cosgrove went caught and bowled off the leading edge, van der Gugten throwing himself to his right to scoop up the ball one-handed just before it hit the pitch, and the seamer picked up a five-for by bowling Harry Dearden, the young left-hander looking to drive an inswinger that took the inside edge and knocked back his leg stump.Ben Raine lofted a delivery from Lukas Carey straight to mid-off, Dieter Klein was palpably leg before to the same bowler, and it took an innings-best and lunch-delaying partnership of 32 between Charlie Shreck, who made a season’s best score of 20, and Clint McKay for Leicestershire to get anywhere near three figures.Having been dismissed for 96, Leicestershire took six wickets in the afternoon session to keep themselves in the match, with allrounder Dexter picking up three victims in four overs shortly before the break.Rudolph was the first to go after lunch, bowled by McKay with an inswinger delivered from around the wicket. Will Bragg and Nick Selman added 47 for the second wicket, but both fell with the score on 63, Bragg caught behind fencing at a Shreck delivery and Selman edging a flat-footed push to Horton at first slip off Raine.Youngsters Aneurin Donald and Kiran Carlson compiled a partnership of 61 in 8.4 overs for the fourth wicket, driving a series of half-volleys through the off side before Donald, again driving airily, was bowled through the gate for 32, hit off just 23 balls.Meschede and Mark Wallace were both caught behind off Dexter outswingers, the former looking to drive, the latter to defend, and the first over after tea saw Klein blast out Owen Morgan and van der Gugten with quick inswingers. The 18-year-old Carlson continued to play without fear, however, reaching 74 off just 74 balls and hitting 12 fours before he ran out of partners.When Leicestershire went back in the conditions were put into context when Robson and Horton compiled an unbroken opening partnership of 78 to leave them 25 behind at the close.

Stuart Law has said that his love for influencing a young player’s technique has brought him to Bangladesh for a second time

Mohammad Isam25-Aug-2015Stuart Law has said that his love for influencing a young player’s technique has brought him to Bangladesh for a second time. On this occasion he will work as the technical advisor to the Bangladesh Under-19 team who are preparing for the World Cup in early next year.Appointed earlier this month, Law will be with the programme for a total of 16 weeks, which he will complete in three phases. He arrived in Dhaka on Monday evening and will accompany the team for the first phase of training from August 29 to September 10 and will stay on for a duration of four weeks. The team will play some practice matches but the focus will be more on training at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium.Law was the head coach of Bangladesh’s senior side for nine months from June 2011 to the end of March 2012. He also worked with Sri Lanka and Australia, and also had stints with Australia’s Under-19 side after leaving the Bangladesh job.”I loved working with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Australia national teams,” Law said. “It is a different challenge to get a player who is around 16 to 19, offer them advice, see them take it on board and put it into practice. It gives me more of a buzz than I used to get hundreds. Bangladesh Under-19 is my team. I don’t like losing, so I want to see them be the best I can be. If by chance, with good hard work and some luck, we can lift the trophy at the end of February, I will be very happy.”Since leaving Bangladesh, I worked with Australia’s burgeoning young players. They aren’t as physically matured. You have to take a different approach. You need to be having fun to play the best cricket. It seems some of these young guys have worked that out already. I am not here to change anything. I am here to help the system the way it is at the moment. They have got the plan in place. I am just here to add value to the plan.”The age-group side has been doing well since the last World Cup that was held in January 2014 in the UAE. Under the coaching of Mizanur Rahman Babul, the Bangladesh Under-19s have won three one-day series against Sri Lanka and South Africa. They recently beat South Africa 5-2 in South Africa. The results prompted the BCB into appointing Law as the technical advisor, but he believes that the pressure of playing the World Cup at home can be contained by doing the basics well.”There is always pressure when you are playing at home,” Law said. “They have to learn to deal with the pressure if they choose to play cricket as their profession. It is nothing compared to the pressure they have to face in international cricket. It is nice that the Bangladesh public expect the Bangladeshi teams to do really well. It is a credit to the team that they have done well in the recent past. We have to forget about winning the thing and worry about the basics.”Bangladesh have won the Plate championship in the Under-19 World Cup in 1998, 2004, 2010 and 2014 but have never reached the semifinals of the Cup phase. Expectations this time around, especially playing at home, will be of them to lift the main title for the first time.Law said that it can’t be done overnight but the progress of the current team has been encouraging enough for him to not change anything. “To make a champion team is a difficult challenge. It is not all down to one person either. As long as the players continue to work hard and coaches continue to nurture the talent and not try to make it too difficult and try not to change too many things.”There’s no magic formula that can be used to make a world champion team. It all comes down to good, honest hard work and performing well on each day. The game is not about winning. It is about turning up and doing your best every day.”

Australian batsmen lost four quick wickets just before stumps on the second day of their tour match against India A who scored 451 led by Manoj Tiwary’s 129

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Feb-2013
ScorecardShane Watson scored a brisk 84 on the second day against India A•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Australian batsmen lost four quick wickets just before stumps on the second day of their tour match against India A in Chennai. After India A scored 451, Australia got a strong start as their openers Shane Watson and Ed Cowan put on 116, scoring at more than five runs per over.But once Cowan was trapped lbw by left-arm spinner Rakesh Dhurv for 40, No. 3 Phil Hughes was stumped in the next over off Jalaj Saxena. When Usman Khawaja and Watson had put on only 10 for the third wicket, Dhurv struck again to dismiss Watson for 84, who was scoring at nearly run-a-ball. To follow the earlier trend, Saxena picked the fourth Australian wicket in the next over, disturbing Usman Khawaja’s stumps. Matthew Wade and and Moises Henriques survived the remaining six overs before stumps, after they lost their four wickets for 11 runs.Resuming the day at 338 for 4, CM Gautam was dismissed in not much time by Peter Siddle for 38 and Saxena gave able support to Manoj Tiwary who brought up his hundred with a six off Xavier Doherty. Once their 76-run stand was broken with Tiwary’s wicket, Dhurv scored a quick 21 and the Australians picked the last four wickets for five runs. Saxena was unbeaten on 30 before he picked up two wickets in eight overs later in the day.

A round-up of matches from the Caribbean T20 on January 18

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jan-2012Barbados crushed Sussex by eight wickets at the Kensington Oval and climbed to the top of the table in Group B. Sussex, who needed a win to keep their prospects alive, disappointed by shuddering to 89 all out in 18 overs. The Barbados bowlers continued their fine form by bowling out the opposition for less than 100 runs for third successive time.Sussex had a sedate, but solid start where they got to 23 runs in four overs without losing any wicket. But Tino Best sparked the slump by removing Joe Gatting and Sussex struggled through the rest of the innings, with only three batsmen getting to double figures. Fidel Edwards, playing his first game, picked up three wickets in his last 7 balls after Best (3 for 11) and Ashley Nurse (2 for 8) had annihilated the top order.In reply, Barbados cantered to their target without any trouble. Opener Kevin Stoute and No. 4 Shane Dowrich shared an unbeaten 52-run stand, which took Barbados straight into the semi-finals.In another Group B encounter, also played at the Kensington Oval, Netherlands beat Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) by 26 runs to keep the competition hot for the second semi-finalist spot. Batting first, the Dutch openers, Stephanus Myburgh and Michael Swart, added 70 runs in eight overs. Swart scored 57 off 43 balls and was supported well by Alexei Kervezee (36 off 31) to set up a challenging target for CCC. Later, the Dutch bowled with discipline to deny any momentum to the batsmen. Both teams need to win their last league games to challenge Jamaica for the other semi-final spot available in the group.

With 25 days to go for the 2011 World Cup, Ratnakar Shetty, the tournament’s director, has dismissed concerns about the preparedness of venues for the event

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jan-2011With 25 days to go for the 2011 World Cup, Ratnakar Shetty, the tournament’s director, has dismissed concerns about the preparedness of venues for the event.There had been worries over the redevelopment of grounds in India and Sri Lanka, which had overshot their initial deadlines on November 30 and December 31, but Shetty said they were now on track.”I think the concerns are more in the media than anything else,” Shetty said following the ICC’s inspection on Monday of the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, one of the grounds that was running behind schedule. “As far as we are concerned, all the 13 venues which are going to stage the World Cup are coming up very well and we don’t see any reason of concern.”The ICC team, comprising their stadium consultant Eugene van Vuuren, the body’s general commercial manager Campbell Jamieson and events manager Chris Tetley, will next visit Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday to check out its status. While the Wankhede has had all its stands completely rebuilt, Eden Gardens had two stands renovated.The tournament kicks off on February 19, with India taking on Bangladesh in Mirpur. The Wankhede will host the final on April 2, in addition to league games on March 13 and 18. Eden Gardens will host four matches, with the first one scheduled for February 27.

India took the series lead with a convincing seven-wicket win in Visakhapatnam. Rumeli Dhar starred with a career-best 4 for 19 and Jhulan Goswami and the spinners assisted in keeping England down to 130

Cricinfo staff24-Feb-2010
Scorecard
Rumeli Dhar took career-best figures of 4 for 19•Getty Images

India took a 2-1 series lead with a convincing seven-wicket win in Visakhapatnam. Rumeli Dhar starred with a career-best 4 for 19 and Jhulan Goswami and the spinners assisted in keeping England down to 130. Anjum Chopra scored an unbeaten 61 as India chased the target with ease.India had lost the second match in Bangalore by three runs, with only Mithali Raj and Amita Sharma making significant contributions with the bat. But this time the target was much lower, owing to some incisive bowling.Dhar and Goswami triggered an early collapse which allowed the spinners to pressure the middle order and dry up the runs even further. Dhar returned in the final 10 overs and picked up two more wickets to give the Indian batsmen an easy target to chase.Ebony Rainford-Brent was the first to be dismissed when she edged Dhar to the keeper for a duck in the fourth over. Dhar then trapped Caroline Atkins leg before for 26 in the seventh over, before she held a catch to remove Jenny Gunn for 2 off Goswami. England captain Charlotte Edwards and Lydia Greenway dropped anchor, looking to score off loose balls, and added 33 at less than three an over. At the end of the 24th over, Edwards was stumped off left-arm spinner Preeti Dimri and England were tottering at 54 for 4. Dimri also picked up Greenway’s wicket and finished with figures of 2 for 20.India’s fielders didn’t always back up their bowlers’ efforts – fumbling in the outfield and fluffing run-out chances – but the early wickets ensured England couldn’t rebuild. Beth Morgan and Laura Marsh added 39 before Dhar struck off consecutive balls in the 43rd over. First she had Morgan caught in the deep and then trapped Katherine Brunt plumb in front.Marsh fell trying to clear the in-field and gave left-arm spinner Gouher Sultana her first wicket of the day. She took another wicket in the final over, catching Nicky Shaw for 9. Goswami also picked up a second wicket – Tamsin Beaumont – and finished with impressive figures of 2 for 17 from nine overs.India opened the batting with Poonam Raut, playing her second ODI, and Anjum Chopra, after two low scores by Anagha Deshpande. Brunt got some movement early in the innings and troubled both Raut and Chopra. But the openers stuck in and added 97 at over three an over. Raut hit nine fours in her 91-ball 44 before she was trapped leg before by Gunn in the 32nd over. Two balls later Gunn trapped Priyanka Roy for a duck. Brunt bowled Deshpande soon after for 1. Dhar joined Chopra at the crease and hit the winning runs with a four in the 41st over.

Bowling coach and mentor Jhulan Goswami says “the ultimate motto of WPL” is to “go to different venues and expand women’s cricket” in India

Vishal Dikshit05-Feb-2025The first ever WPL champions Mumbai Indians (MI) aim to adopt an “aggressive approach” in all three departments. They want their players to be “fearless” in their quest to lift a second title in three seasons in front of their home crowd, according to head coach Charlotte Edwards.For the upcoming third edition of the WPL, MI have bought wicketkeeper-batter G Kamalini, and allrounders Nadine de Klerk, Akshita Maheshwari, and Sanskriti Gupta, whom captain Harmanpreet Kaur called “exciting talent”. De Klerk is the only international name among those, and the only one above 25 years of age.MI have also started preparing for the new season with almost a week’s training done in Navi Mumbai, mainly with the Indian players.Related

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• A Sunday to savour for Kamalini: runs, trophy, and big payday

• Gujarat Giants vs RCB to kick off WPL 2025 on February 14

“Every player that comes into MI hopefully knows what’s expected of them. But equally [important is] that aggressive approach which is what we want to have throughout when we bat, bowl or field – and that’s something we tried to put across most of the players,” Edwards said at a press conference in Mumbai. “But equally, have that clarity about what our strengths are.”Every player, we just want them to be fearless, and obviously, most of all, have lots of fun. That’s what makes me and obviously Jhulan [Goswami, bowling coach and mentor] very happy is when they’ve got smiles on their faces and they can impact games like the way they have done.”I thought we played some fantastic cricket last year, and that’s all we can ask [for]. Things that we really set here is that we want people turning on the TV and watching the Mumbai Indians playing, and we certainly did that last time – we had some entertaining games of cricket.”One of those entertaining games in WPL 2024 was when MI had chased down 191 against Gujarat Giants, led by Harmanpreet’s stunning 95 off 48 balls, an innings which was studded with ten fours and five sixes. But when it came to the Eliminator, MI fell just five runs short in their pursuit of 136 against eventual champions Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), as their middle order failed to score 16 runs off the remaining 12 deliveries after their captain’s dismissal.Last year, MI fell just five runs short in the Eliminator against RCB•BCCI

“We missed out by the narrowest of margins last year, which was disappointing. But we played the way we wanted to play, and this year, it’s just pure excitement for it,” Edwards said. “That we can keep building this team, to keep improving and hopefully get back to the winning ways, and get back to CCI (the Brabourne) and be in another final this year.”This time, MI have as many as nine players under the age of 25, including the 16-year-old Kamalini, who scored 143 runs for winners India during the recently-concluded Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia. Edwards said the key was to teach those youngsters that being aggressive was not only about hitting sixes.”The wonderful thing about youth is they’ll come in, and they will be aggressive,” she said. “So now it’s for us to just teach somehow to play T20 cricket, and it’s not all about hitting sixes. And that’s our job now to instil that within the players, but never take away this aggressive approach that we want to just build on their wonderful talent.”And that’s what’s impressed me so much about the talent coming through. They’re just so forward-thinking and open-minded, and it’s so wonderful to coach, and they do it all with a smile on their face, which makes me very happy.”

Goswami: WPL’s motto is to expand women’s cricket

While the maiden WPL was held in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, the second season expanded to Bengaluru and Delhi. The third edition that starts from February 14 will be played across four cities: Vadodara, Lucknow, Bengaluru and Mumbai. Goswami, who played international cricket for over 20 years, said expanding the women’s game in the country was the “motto” of the WPL, while she also hoped to lift the trophy at the Brabourne Stadium again, which will host the final two league games and the knockouts.”One of the best things about WPL is it’s now going in different places in our country, and it will impact local young girls, [and] budding cricketers – to motivate them, encourage them,” she said. “And that is the ultimate motto of WPL – to go to different venues and expand women’s cricket, particularly in our country.”Baroda (now Vadodara) will be a new venue for all of us. Recently, the Indian team played a series against West Indies [there], and the wicket was good; it’s a new stadium. Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium is a fantastic stadium. Coming back to Mumbai, [we’re] looking forward to coming back in our home and playing in front of our MI fans. It’s a big thing, and we have fond memories of our first year, and [are] really looking forward to this season and playing in front of our MI fans.”MI’s first game in WPL 2025 will be on February 15, against Delhi Capitals in Vadodara.