The Indian women's side has made enormous steps in all facets of their game: Sophie Devine
New Zealand women’s team skipper Sophie Devine made her international debut in 2006 in a T20I against Australia. She has since played 91 T20Is and 105 ODIs for the White Ferns.
Sophie Devine first played against the Indian women’s cricket team back in 2009, and has played 10 ODIs and 10 T20Is against the Asian nation since. A lot has changed since, and the Kiwi all-rounder believes the Indian team has changed for the better in that time.
According to Sophie Devine, the 2020 T20 World Cup runners up have seen ‘massive improvement’ in fielding over the years. The White Ferns captain also singled out power hitting as an aspect of the Indian game that makes them a dangerous side, particularly discussing the abilities of Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues.
“The Indian women's side has made enormous steps in all facets of their game - their fielding in particular is an area where I think there has been massive improvement. As well the power hitting is something that makes them a dangerous side - we all know Shefali Verma now but with the likes of Mandhana, Kaur and Rodrigues in their ranks it’s brought a different element to the batting line up,” Sophie Devine told Sportskeeda in an exclusive interview.
T20 leagues are driving the standard of the women’s game forward: Sophie Devine
In addition to being a part of the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Supernovas in both editions of the Women’s T20 Challenge, Sophie Devine has been a part of the Adelaide Strikers squad in the Women’s Big Bash League(WBBL) since 2015.
In 66 WBBL matches for the Strikers, the all-rounder has scored 2174 runs while picking up 60 wickets.
The White Ferns’ skipper was particularly impressive in the most recent edition of the league, leading the run charts with 769 runs that included 9 half-centuries. She was also the joint-highest wicket-taker for her team with 19 wickets, all while bowling at an economy rate of under 7 runs an over.
Sophie Devine believes that T20 leagues such as the WBBL and the Women’s T20 Challenge are central to improving the standards of the game across the world.
According to her, the popularity of the women’s game has grown leaps and bounds, with the sell-out crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) being proof of the growing appetite for women’s cricket in the world at the moment.
“I think the T20 leagues are playing a huge part in driving the standard of the women's game forward - opportunities to play in different environments with different teams, and amongst the best players in the world has definitely helped me improve my game. We saw at the recent ICC T20 World Cup final with over 85,000 people packing into the MCG that there is a huge appetite for women's cricket,” Sophie Devine added.
I would have loved to play more Test matches: Sophie Devine
In spite of the 91 T20Is and 105 ODIs to her name, Sophie Devine is yet to play a Test match for her country. In fact, the last Test match that the White Ferns played came all the way back in 2004, before the skipper even made her debut.
Although the holder of the record for the fastest fifty in T20Is (18 balls, alongside Smriti Mandhana) would love to have played more Tests, Sophie Devine understands that that it is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
“We do actually have one player in the side who was part of that 2004 test (Katey Martin) so we love to hear her experiences of that format. Absolutely I would have loved to have played more test matches in my career and would have been a true test of skill but I understand that it currently isn't part of the plan to help grow the women's game, and formats like 50-over and T20 can provide the most impact,” Sophie Devine added.
While Tests may not be a part of the immediate future of Sophie Devine or the White Ferns, fans across the world will get to see the team take on their Australian counterparts as early as September.
This will be the first time that both sets of teams play international cricket since March, owing to the coronavirus outbreak across the world.