The belief factor is strong at Mumbai Indians, says Amelia Kerr

Amelia Kerr is focused on helping her team make the the final of the third edition of the Women’s Premier League this season.
| Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR

From being a precocious talent in her teens to winning the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year award for 2024, Amelia Kerr has undertaken a fulfilling journey to the summit in the past decade.

The status of the best women’s cricketer in the world was bestowed upon the 24-year-old in recognition of her all-round brilliance in New Zealand’s ground-breaking T20 World Cup triumph in the United Arab Emirates in October 2024.

Besides finishing as the tournament’s highest wicket-taker with 15 scalps in six matches with her bamboozling leg-breaks and googlies, she also contributed 135 runs at No. 3. In the final, she hit 43 and snaffled three wickets.

As is the nature of the very best cricketers, she has moved on from that high to focus on the task of helping Mumbai Indians march into the final of the third edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL). Part of the franchise from the inaugural 2023 season when it lifted the trophy, she is confident of another tilt at the title. MI is second in the standings behind Delhi Capitals.

“We have got a really well-balanced team. We are in a good position. We have got important games coming up. Obviously, we have won this competition before. So there is that belief factor,” Kerr told The Hindu in a virtual interaction on Sunday.

As the WPL caravan moves to the Ekana stadium in Lucknow, a city known for its culinary delights and tehzeeb (etiquette), Kerr’s leg-spin offering may flourish more than it did in Vadodara and Bengaluru. The pitches at this venue have leaned towards encouraging turn previously.

“I have no idea what to expect in Lucknow. I have never been here previously. In women’s cricket now, there is travel around the world for different leagues and for New Zealand and you have to adapt. I don’t look too much into conditions. But adapting obviously is really important if there is a huge difference in the pitches,” she said.

So far in this campaign, she has just bubbled under the radar and not quite matched her usual standards. “Each time I go out, I try to contribute where I can and get in the fight. I have probably missed out a couple of times with the bat, but cricket is a very fickle game and it is just about turning up for the next one and trying to compete.”