Vadodara, Feb 3 (IANS) New Zealand and Gujarat Giants all-rounder Sophie Devine believes that experience alone does not define a player’s value in a team, stressing instead the importance of clarity and consistency of role in building confidence

Devine said this clarity has helped her perform in the ongoing Women’s Premier League (WPL), where she has been able to understand her role and contribute effectively to the side.

Asked how she views her role in the team, Devine highlighted the advantage of being a versatile cricketer. “Depends on the day. That’s a great thing about having different skills, as you get two cracks at it during a game. It’s obviously been a great tournament for us so far, but the job’s certainly not done yet,” the all-rounder told broadcasters ahead of the Eliminator clash between Delhi Capitals and GG on Tuesday.

Reflecting on what has been one of her most consistent seasons in recent years, Devine said she does not necessarily have a favourite role, but values the stability she has found this season.

“Yeah, I don’t know, I guess it’s funny to look back at the start of my career, and I was a bowler to start, so it’s always nice to, I guess, to go back to my roots and yeah to do a real job. I think I said previously that I think any player it doesn’t matter how experienced you are but when you get consistency and clarity of role you grow confidence in that and I think that’s just been an example of this probably this tournament is knowing exactly where I fit in this group and being able to own that position and really just try and do a job for the group. Which probably adds to the importance of your season because you haven’t had consistency in your role because you’ve sort of gone from middle order to opening, depending on if Danny Wyatt Hodge was in the team or not,” she said.

The former New Zealand skipper also spoke about the challenges of frequently switching batting positions and how experience has helped her manage those transitions.

“Yeah it is and I certainly think if it was 10 years ago I think I probably would have struggled with it a lot more but I guess I’ve hit the luxury is maybe not the right word but of having batted 1-11 being able to make that shift really quickly and I think with my game my game plan is it doesn’t actually change too much. It’s probably more about what happens in the out-of-field, do you know what I mean? It’s two fielders out or it’s four fielders out, so for me, not much changes in that sense, and I think that’s a real positive is that I don’t have to change too much, it’s probably more so how the opposition goes about bowling to me,” she stated.

On Gujarat Giants’ improved performances this season, particularly their ability to set targets and defend them successfully, Devine credited the team’s confidence and depth, saying, “I wish I knew I mean I’ve been seeing all the stats around teams and the tasks and bowling first. I honestly don’t know what it is. We’ve got real confidence, and whatever we do first, obviously, we’ve had probably more success batting first. We just know that whatever we choose to do, we’ve got such confidence in our batting order and we’ve got real depth as well,” she said.

“You look at successful teams not just here but around the world the ones that have got depth and have trust and faith that if you know the top four or five don’t score runs your number six, seven, eight, nine, ten can also chip in with really valuable runs so having that confidence and freedom I think really has helped this group and I think as well we’ve probably adapted nicely to the conditions here in Baroda,” Devine concluded.

–IANS

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