Former Australian Women’s cricketer Kristen Beams has been appointed as the spin bowling coach of the Mumbai Indians. The announcement comes ahead of the upcoming 2026 Women’s Premier League.
Joining the two-time WPL champions Mumbai Indians, Beams will be working under the support staff led by head coach Lisa Keightley, bowling coach and mentor Jhulan Goswami, batting coach Devika Palshikar and fielding coach Nicole Bolton.
In a statement released on the Mumbai Indians’ Instagram post, Beams expressed her delight at getting the chance to lead a team alongside the top names in women’s cricket.
She stated, “It’s an incredible opportunity to work with someone like Jhulan Goswami, one of the greats of the game, somebody I played cricket against. It’s an incredible culture…that they’ve developed a winning culture over a really long period of time, but a family that’s what you hear everyone talk about that this group is so tight-knit, and it’s a family and it’s what you want to be a part of.”
“And I think as a coach coming in, that’s exactly what you want to be able to do, is to walk into an environment that feels really tight-knit, and a team that knows how to win,” she added.
The Mumbai Indians have won the WPL title in two out of the three seasons played so far. The 2026 WPL season will begin on January 9 with Mumbai facing Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the curtain-raiser.
Beams’ coaching tenure extends from franchise to national setups. She has worked in the Women’s Big Bash League and The Hundred. She was the Australia Women’s U19 team coach and was given the role of National Development Lead at Cricket Australia.
A look into Beams’ cricketing career
She featured for the Australian women’s team across all three formats. In her international career, she has played one Test, 30 ODIs, and 18 T20Is and has also featured in 45 matches in WBBL. Meanwhile, in the 2017 ODI World Cup, she was the third-highest wicket-taker.
In the one Test played against England Women in 2015, Beams scored 26 runs. Meanwhile, in the 30 WODIs played, she scored 34 runs at a strike rate of 61.81 and picked up 42 wickets at an average of 22.45. In the 18 T20Is, the bowler scored just six runs but took 20 wickets at an average of 16.60.
