Mumbai Indians earn Shabnim Ismail's services during WPL 2026 auction
The defending champions of the Women's Premier League (WPL) heading into the 2026 season of the event, Mumbai Indians, were successul to sign the South Africa pacer, Shabnim Ismail, in the auction.
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Shabnim Ismail comes with a massive experience playing around the world in various formats of the game. She has already picked up 123 wickets in 112 innings of the Women’s T20Is at an average of 18.62 and a strike rate of 19.3 with an economy rate of under six, which is extra-ordinary in this modern age of the format.
It's hard to get past the incredible pace of the bowler, as Mumbai Indians was lucky to keep the bowler with them ahead of the 2026 season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL). They started the bidding at a base price of INR 40 lakh before the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) joined them in the party but couldn’t breach the desired price.
Mumbai was keen to get the player and finally signed her for an increased price of INR 60 lakh. It has been a pay cut for the star member of the Proteas who actually got INR 1.20 crore from the same franchise in the last couple of seasons of the league.
Mumbai Indians sign Shabnim Ismail for a price of INR 60 lakh in WPL 2026 auction
In the history of the Women’s Premier League, Ismail has overall picked up 20 wickets in 20 innings at an average of under 27 and a strike rate of 23.5 with the economy staying under the seven-mark. In the 2024/25 season of the tournament, Ismail collected nine wickets in 10 innings at an average of 30 and a strike rate of 26.6 with an economy rate of 6.77.
Ismail is currently in Australia, featuring for the Sydney Thunder side in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) 2025 where he has collected seven wickets in the last five clashes of the event, including the best of 3/27 against the Sydney Sixers.
Mumbai Indians have picked the players who will be nearly confirmed to be part of their eleven as of now. That shows their strong planning in the title defense of the WPL 2026.
Mumbai Indians’ updated squad for WPL 2026
G Kamalini, Harmanpreet Kaur, Nat Sciver Brunt, Hayley Matthews, Amelia Kerr, Shabnim Ismail, and Amanjot Kaur.
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Subhradeep Choudhury
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