Harmanpreet Kaur and the making of a winning mindset at Mumbai Indians

Harmanpreet Kaur may be the only woman to have captained the Indian cricket team to a World Cup victory. But the path to that was filled with stumbling blocks, having faltered at crucial times. However, much has changed for Harmanpreet since taking over as the captain of Mumbai Indians in Women's Premier League, the same tournament that promised to help the Indian players win micro battles in tense situations.

As captain of the two-time WPL-winning team, Harmanpreet has now set a new goal for herself - to leave behind a legacy of a 'winning mindset'.

"Wherever I go, I want to see people only think about how we can win. Participation - we have been doing for so many years, but that doesn't change anything," Harmanpreet said on Wednesday. "But if you go with a winning mindset and work towards that, it can bring a lot of things to you and your country."

It's in WPL, as the skipper of Mumbai Indians, that she beat a dominant side led by Meg Lanning for the first time in a final; the same counterpart she had failed to outdo in a different shade of blue on several occasions in the past.

Harmanpreet admitted the role of WPL in shaping that change. "WPL has made a lot of changes in me, especially in thinking," Harmanpreet admitted. "Before that, there were some limitations. MI have been winning IPL titles for so many years. When I came here at MI and was sitting with them, they were always thinking about what best we can do to beat any team and win the title. Their thought process changed me and wherever I went, I thought about how I can change the mindset. We can only think about what we can win. That reflected in the last few years."

After having won the title twice in three years, Mumbai Indians have parted ways with their head coach Charlotte Edwards and roped in Lisa Keightley in that role. The mega auctions would have caused some dents to their larger squad building exercise for the season, but the defending champions were largely successful in retaining and bringing back their core.

But even in the losses, there is no dearth of talented youngsters waiting in the wings. Keightley, who has previously worked with Delhi Capitals, isn't a stranger to the tournament, and its growing pace hasn't missed her attention.

"The WPL is getting very competitive, and it's harder to pick your team at an auction because you have got a lot more players to choose from," Keightley said. "The domestic players are improving, and the Indian international players are getting fantastic competition to lead into international cricket World Cups and being put under pressure. If you are doing that in your domestic competition, it is only going to enhance your performance when you go away to play international cricket. You've seen the result through India winning the 50-over World Cup when they were under pressure in the semi-final.

"That's the result of the WPL in the last three years and you're seeing the reward when they go away for international competitions. I'd imagine you go another three years and it is going to be very scary watching India play in some World Cups.

"When I come into work with any of the domestic Indian players in the last four years, it means so much to them. I don't really have to say too much," Keightley said. "You can tell by their work ethic, the way they listen, the way they communicate and want to work with the internationals that come in. It's just so refreshing and beautiful to see what it means to them.

"The way they compete in nets... just the other day, Amelia's first training session... Triveni, our left-arm spinner, came in, hit her pad and was like 'out, out, out!' We don't get that in Australia; you just hit the pad and the bowler walks back. So it's very competitive, which is really cute. When they are out training or in a practice match, the intensity is lovely to see. Generally at home, if we played a practice match, the players roll through that opportunity, but over here the competition they just love it.

"I love seeing that. You don't have to say much. They are so happy that they have been selected, they have got an opportunity to experience. For some it changes their life, it starts the journey of opening up doors. If we can facilitate that, help and support them to fulfill their dreams - and it might be playing for Mumbai and winning a tournament or it might be going through to play for India - that's the way I look at it. Just facilitating, helping and guiding and making sure this experience for Mumbai is one they won't forget, and when they leave they are thinking 'I can't wait to come back, and play next year'."