Harmanpreet, Mandhana and banter at the scene of the World Cup win

In November, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana savoured the night of their lives at the DY Patil Stadium after India's historic ODI World Cup win. Now back at the same venue, facing each other as captains of Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) ahead of the opening match of WPL 2026, they exchanged quips at the press conference.

Even before the press conference formally began, the duo sat next to each other with the WPL trophy beside them. They talked to one another in whispers and fiddled with their phones, until the microphones were switched on and their voices amplified, with the room erupting in laughter. When reminded that the reporters' phones that were kept on the table in front of them, were recording everything they said to each other, Mandhana clarified there was "nothing controversial". They even introduced each other before the media manager stepped in.

Fresh off a World Cup win and having spent years together as India's captain and vice-captain, the obvious question followed: was it difficult to set friendship aside and compete against each other?

"I think we are professional enough whenever we are on the field, we know why we are there and what is our role," Harmanpreet said. "Off the field, I'm happy that I have a great relationship and friendship with her. We enjoy each other's company off the field and even on the field. But WPL is very exciting for all of us. Whenever we are on the field we only think one thing, which is how we can win against each other and I think that is something we'll carry to the ground."

Mandhana was quick to interject: "Not bad to win matches against your friends! I hope she does well but we win.

"We don't get time to speak about WPL," Mandhana added. "But when we step on the field, the banter is always going to be there, be it [during] Big Bash or the Hundred as well."

Over the years, both have picked up leadership qualities from each other. Harmanpreet highlighted Mandhana's eye for data and stats about the opposition players: "When we are playing together, Smriti likes to keep discussing the players we are playing against, and it's good to have somebody [like that] because I know I'm busy doing other things. She is someone who will be giving me feedback whenever I really need on the field. She's really good at stats about other team players."

When it was Mandhana's turn to reflect on her learnings from Harmanpreet, she did with humour. "I'm trying to learn aggression, it's not coming," she said.

"You don't need to learn that!" Harmanpreet turned to her and said.

"Of course she is a fierce leader, she is really passionate about the way she plays," Mandhana said. "So that's one thing which I always look forward to, which I like to learn. The passion in her eyes is very motivating for all of us, so that's one thing I always learn."

Both Mandhana and Harmanpreet also have personal goals to work through this WPL season. Asked if there were specific skills they hoped to experiment with, Harmanpreet was quick to answer on Mandhana's behalf: "Reverse-sweep!"

"Bowling," Mandhana responded, prompting laughter.

"There's this one lap shot which I'm trying to keep playing. I hope I get better at it in the WPL. Reverse-sweep is still a game in progress. There's this one conscious effort of hitting sixes... I'm trying to work on my power-hitting game quite a lot. Hopefully I can get in some power-hitting in the WPL [but by] not going away from timing the ball as well. So that's two things which I really want to work on in terms of this WPL where I look at… not the fancy shots I know I'm still a little away from them. But if I could muscle those sixes if at all I think I'll be very happy."

For Harmanpreet, the WPL is a chance to play with freedom. "I think as a batter I want to bat freely because this is the only platform where I don't put a lot of pressure on me because this is something where I can execute myself however I want. It's a very important tournament for me and I just want to contribute for my team as much as I can."

Would Mandhana also look to work on her bowling, especially with Anya Shrubsole as the bowling coach? "I think Anya will kill me if I tell her to work on my bowling," she said, laughing. "That's a lot of work to do, but I am really happy that a lot of Indian girls are going to get to work with her and pick her brain on how they can get better. My bowling, I don't think that's something anyone has told me… but if it comes from the top management I have to start working on it."

Returning to the familiarity of DY Patil Stadium, the duo was asked if they had spoken about being back together at the ground before heading to the press conference. "We just met two minutes before coming, so we didn't get a lot of time to discuss," Mandhana said cheekily. "The only conversation around the World Cup was with the groundsman - I asked him if this is the semi-final wicket or the final wicket.

"But whenever you enter the ground, we exactly remember where the last catch [Harmanpreet's catch at extra cover to dismiss Nadine de Klerk] was taken, what happened after that and where all the moments happened and even after 20 years when we come back, we are still going to remember exactly what happened on November 2."

She signed off with one final quip. "Maybe tomorrow if she [Harmanpreet] is standing at covers I will just say to the girls 'don't hit there'!"