In three matches so far, Sophie Devine has scored 141 runs.
Something that hadn’t happened for three entire Women’s Premier League (WPL) seasons has happened two times in the fourth season already. And that’s not it – it is picking up pace. Retiring batters out is slowly becoming the norm, and Sophie Devine has opened up on the rule.
The New Zealand all-rounder voiced her opinions on the rule, stating that teams would be using the rule quite frequently over the course of the next seasons. Ayushi Soni became the first player to be retired out in the Women’s Premier League, and was soon followed by Harleen Deol in the next game.
There was a widespread debate on Harleen Deol being retired out in the game against Delhi Capitals, when she was batting on 47*. However, skipper Meg Lanning spoke about the decision, explaining that it was a tactical move by the franchise to make the most of the death overs.
Having said that, Sophie Devine has opined that a lot of these opinions and debates will keep happening over the course of the next seasons due to the rule. However, she also expressed that it is an interesting thing to look at, and can be used to the advantage of a franchise.
“It’s going to spark a fair bit of debate in terms of how people view it. I think for me, it’s just another tool and another strategic option to use,” said Devine in a media interaction for Gujarat Giants.
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Out of the first eight games played in the fourth edition of the WPL so far, seven of them have seen scores in excess of 190. While that tells us a lot about how rapidly the game is changing, it also sheds light on the four fielders out rule, which persists in women’s cricket.
According to the existing rule, a maximum of four fielders can be placed outside the inner circle after the powerplay overs. This gives the batters an edge to clear the ropes with ease in the death overs – something that Sophie Devine loves as a batter, but dreads as a bowler.
“I think there needs to be a serious look at the four-fielders-out rule. We are pretty close to going in line with the men and having five fielders out on the boundary,” said Devine.
Furthermore, Devine also stressed on the boundary sizes and how they need to be pushed back. The New Zealand skipper feels that the current boundaries are sometimes too easy for a batter to clear, making the game tilt in favour of the batter.
“But it also has another element to it where there’s the opportunity to run twos, threes and to have a different level of skill rather than just bludgeoning the ball.”
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