IPL 2023: MI to don WPL jersey for ESA Day in match against KKR

The Mumbai Indians (MI) men’s team is set to don the jerseys of the women’s team in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match to be played on Sunday, April 15 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

The MI will wear the jerseys on a special ESA Day (Education and Sports For All), an initiative by Reliance Foundation, headed by Nita Ambani. Over 19,000 girls will be present in Mumbai, witnessing the game between the Knights and MI.

Mark Boucher, the head coach of the MI men’s team, Jhulan Goswami, the MI women’s team’s bowling coach, and Kieron Pollard, the Mumbai men’s batting coach, said that the initiative will motivate girls to take up sports as a profession.

“Mumbai Indians have been fantastic in creating this initiative and hopefully, it’s going to go out to the rest of the world. The biggest lesson is that they will take away from this game as well is that seeing



sports and inspiring them to be able to play sport at a professional level one day,” Boucher was quoted as saying in a video uploaded on MI’s Twitter handle.

“Definitely, it’s going to motivate them and encourage them. In the future, we will see a lot of girls coming into the sport,” Goswami said.

“I think that’s a fantastic sort of gesture, not only for kids or whatever, but for the ladies of this generation. It’s very very instrumental in the development of any kid and, more so, ladies and girls, especially in sports. So, it gives you a different perspective of what you can accomplish as an individual and as a female,” Pollard mentioned.

The Mumbai Indians also posted pictures of their players holding their respective jerseys for the upcoming game. MI are placed ninth in the table with two points and a net run rate of -0.879 courtesy of wins in one out of three matches.