Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur said the five-team competition has significantly improved the strike rate of all batters in the current 2024–2025 domestic season, ahead of the commencement of the third edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL).

A domestic season in which the hitters have been more expressive at the crease has resulted in more offensive strokeplay in the games as the five clubs prepare for a brand-new WPL season that runs from February 14 to March 15.

The WPL teams’ off-season and pre-season camps for Indian players, which focus primarily on improving the players’ skill sets as well as their levels of fitness and nutrition, have also proved beneficial.

One thing was evident: all of the hitters’ strike rates were much higher this season when discussing domestic cricket. The sole explanation was that (WPL). Everybody was batting with a really nice attitude, and there were over 300 runs in domestic matches. Thus, I believe that domestic cricket players learned from the WPL that they must put a lot of effort into improving their strike rate and power-hitting skills if they want to compete in this tournament.

The Senior Women’s One-Day Trophy quarterfinal between Bengal and Haryana in Rajkot serves as further evidence to support Harmanpreet’s argument. Shafali Verma hit a brilliant 115-ball 197 for Haryana in the game, but Bengal managed to win the chase with five balls remaining and five wickets in hand.

Priyanka Bala, Dhara Gujjar, and Sasthi Mondal all struck half-centuries as Bengal won the record for the most successful chase in women’s List A cricket, with Tanusree Sarkar leading the way with 113 off 83 balls.

The greatest benefit we have derived from the WPL, in my opinion, is the impact it has had on hitters’ strike rates, which is something our cricket players are attempting to improve. I believe they are working hard to become better every season in a number of categories, including power hitting and fielding, which is fantastic,” Harmanpreet said.

On February 15, MI, the WPL 2023 champions, will play the Delhi Capitals at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara to start the 2025 season. MI will play its home games at Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Lucknow after Vadodara.