'Not trying to reinvent the wheel': Luke Williams backs MI's core for WPL 2027

Mumbai Indians missed the Women’s Premier League playoffs last season after injuries and illness disrupted their combinations and close games slipped away. New head coach Luke Williams believes the franchise can return to contention without making wholesale changes to a side that has won two titles in four seasons.“Certainly not trying to reinvent the wheel,” Williams told TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive interaction from Adelaide.The Australian takes over from Lisa Keightley, who left after one season in charge.

Keightley had succeeded Charlotte Edwards, who guided Mumbai to their inaugural WPL title in 2023. Williams knows Edwards from their time working in England’s women’s setup and arrives with a WPL title of his own, having coached Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the championship in 2024.He spent the 2026 season away from the competition, but when the Mumbai job became available, the prospect of returning to WPL - and working with Harmanpreet Kaur - appealed to him.“I was sort of, I guess, still a little bit surprised when it came about,” he said.

“And from my end, I was extremely honoured and was interested straight away. Obviously, I've had some previous experience in the WPL. I had a year away from it last season and really missed being involved in the competition.”Mumbai are the two-time WPL winners, and Williams said the franchise’s record, along with the prospect of responding to a difficult campaign, made the role attractive.“The success that MI have had in all leagues, but also the WPL with two titles in the four years, was really exciting.

And probably coming off a tougher year last year as well is a motivating factor to try and bounce back straight away and really compete for the title this year,” he said.Injuries, close games and the need for consistencyMumbai finished the 2026 league stage with three wins and five defeats, with Hayley Matthews missing the first three matches with a quad injury, while Nat Sciver-Brunt also dealt with illness.

Harmanpreet scored 342 runs, Sciver-Brunt made 321, and Amelia Kerr took 14 wickets, but Mumbai could not convert enough individual performances into wins.Williams pointed to the difficulty of settling combinations in a tournament with only eight league matches. Mumbai lost close games, including their opening fixture against RCB, and had little time to recover from setbacks.“It looked like a challenging year with some injury and illness at different times.

So trying to settle the combination down at different times is a big part of it. There were some close games, even the first game of the tournament against RCB. I think in this tournament where there's only eight games, close games are so important to try to get them to go in your direction. And try to win those crucial moments,” he said.“Still had a positive net run rate last year, I think.

Mumbai and RCB were the only two teams to finish with a positive net run rate. So there's still a lot of positive signs. But just a couple of areas that we can hopefully have a bit of fortune with injury and illness. But also make sure that our processes, especially in the tighter games, are really clear and able to get over the line in those.”Williams does not intend to overhaul the team’s approach.

He wants players to be clear about their responsibilities, while allowing for changes as their games develop between WPL seasons.“Primarily there's a lot to continue on with, I think, in terms of philosophy. But again, I guess [with] each player, it's a year between WPLs. So the players would have developed different things. So being really clear on their role within the side, where there might be some subtle shifts from different years with that,” he said.He pointed to the retentions as an indication of the franchise’s plans.“But again, in terms of the overall makeup, I think, or the composition, you could probably see from our retentions that we're keen to retain that core nucleus of the squad.

But again, there may be some subtle changes to different roles and how we go about little bits and pieces. But certainly not trying to reinvent the wheel.”Harmanpreet stays on as captainHarmanpreet will continue to lead Mumbai, even as her international captaincy has ended. She stepped down as India captain this month, having led the team to its first Women’s Cricket World Cup title in 2025.For Williams, Harmanpreet remains central to his plans at Mumbai.

The two have spoken online and over the phone and met during his recent visit to India.“Harman is obviously such an integral part of MI as well as Indian cricket, obviously. And will continue in the captaincy role and has just a huge presence within the franchise. Is really strong with her thoughts and beliefs and we're really aligned in how we want to take the team forward for not only this year but hopefully years to come,” Williams said.He values her ability to combine an intense competitive streak with composure when making decisions under pressure.“She's able to, I think, mix a steely sort of competitiveness and desire and all those attributes that you want to see in a leader, with still having a calmness and a game knowledge and an ability to make really good decisions under pressure,” he said.“So I love the combination of the leader that's there and stands up and always wants to compete, but also at the same time is able to be really calculated in the decisions that they make.”The auction: immediate needs and future optionsThe WPL auction takes place in Kochi on October 28.

Mumbai have retained Harmanpreet, Matthews, Sciver-Brunt and Kerr among others, giving Williams an experienced core to build around.His priority is to find players whose strengths complement those already in the squad, while ensuring the team has options for different pitches and conditions.“It's making sure that each person has some strengths that we feel can, I guess, be accentuated in our program, that will match well with other players that we've got, I guess, depending on…