WPL 2024: Mumbai Indians bolster squad ahead of curtain-raiser, add Fatima Jaffer to illustrious roster

The Mumbai Indians are all set to start their Women’s Premier League (WPL) campaign on Friday (Feb 23) as they take on Delhi Capitals in the curtain-raiser contest at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

The contest will be a repeat of the 2023 WPL final where Mumbai got the better of Delhi to be crowned the maiden champions. Now in search of another title, MI have bolstered their squad with the addition of Fatima Jaffer who will apply her trade under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Kaur.

Who is Fatima Jaffer?

Fatima Jaffer, the daughter of the well-known coach in Mumbai’s cricketing circles, Kaleem Jaffer, the niece of former India opener and Mumbai domestic legend Wasim Jaffer. She is also the sister of up-and-coming Mumbai batter, Armaan Jaffer and is carrying on the family cricketing baton.

“I was around seven or eight when I first started to play cricket. It was my father’s decision. He asked me to play cricket because he wanted one of the girls from the family to play cricket,” Fatima said ahead of the start of the upcoming season.

“He never stopped me from doing anything. He always encouraged me to play cricket. Even when I’m not doing well, he comes up to me and encourages me. There’s no major difference between Kaleem Jaffer the father and Kaleem Jaffer the coach. We mostly discuss only cricket even at home,” Fatima added.