“I wanted it to be laid out nice and clear early and we’ve been talking about this discussion for so long.” Skipper Sophie Devine on relinquishing T20I captaincy after the upcoming World Cup
We are inching closer to the upcoming 9th edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. The tournament was earlier set to be hosted by Bangladesh, however, due to unforeseen circumstances in the country it is now shifted to the United Arab Emirates.
Ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, the White Ferns skipper Sophie Devine has decided to step down from the T20I captaincy for New Zealand after the conclusion of the upcoming 9th edition of the Women’s T20I World Cup. “I didn’t want to detract from the group when we bring the World Cup home. I wanted it to be laid out nice and clear early and we’ve been talking about this discussion for so long, that to me I wanted to get this out the way that it’s done and we can now focus on winning that World Cup.” Skipper Sophie Devine speaks about her decision, of relinquishing the T20I captaincy post the conclusion of the upcoming T20 World Cup being a pre-planned one.
She made her captaincy debut for New Zealand in the T20I format on 2nd March 2014 in the 2nd T20I against the West Indies in the absence of their former skipper Amy Satterthwaite. She took over as New Zealand’s full-time T20I skipper in the year 2020. In her captaincy stint so far she has a decent win percentage of around 45% in the format. It is also the 2nd best after the former skipper Suzie Bates, who had an exceptional win percentage of 60% during her captaincy stint for the White Ferns.
One of the remarkable moments of her stint as a skipper was their away series win against India in July 2015, followed by a home series win against South Africa in February 2020, and another series win against India in February 2022. She also led her side to a Bronze medal finish in the Commonwealth Games at Birmingham in July-August in 2022. It was a maiden appearance for women’s cricket at the Commonwealth Games, adding much more significance to their achievement.
New Zealand also had a decent campaign in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa last year. They finished 3rd on the points table with four points from four games, including a couple of victories and a couple of defeats. However, South Africa led by former skipper Sune Luus (with the same number of points as the White Ferns) progressed to the semi-finals courtesy of a superior net run rate.
The leadership duties seemed to get the best out of the sensational all-rounder. As a skipper, she has scored over 1,400 runs (1415 runs) at a strike rate of 121.87 and an impressive average of 30.10 in 54 innings with the bat. Her tally of runs includes 11 half-centuries and a century so far as a skipper in the T20I format. She has an impressive strike rate of 138.39 and a sensational average of 47.05 in 25 innings as a skipper in a winning cause for her side in the T20I format.
Apart from her exploits with the bat, she has also picked up 42 wickets at an average of 21.85 and an economy of 71.13 in 51 innings with the ball so far in her stint as a New Zealand skipper in the format. “I think at the end of it all, I’m just so proud of this group and where we’re heading. I think that’s a really exciting thing is even if I’m not going to be the captain of the T20 stuff, where this group’s going and the culture and the environment I think is going to hold us in really good stead.” Skipper Sophie Devine summarises the progress within the group in terms of the culture and the environment and taking the baton ahead.
The Sophie Devine-led side will tour Australia for a three-match T20I series starting on 19th September 2024 and conclude on 24th September 2024. The series could be a good dress rehearsal for New Zealand before heading to the United Arab Emirates for the World Cup from 3rd October to 20th October 2024.
The upcoming 9th edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the United Arab Emirates is going to be her last assignment as a New Zealand skipper in the T20I format. It also presents her an opportunity to potentially sign off her T20I captaincy stint with a World Cup title under her belt. The White Ferns will kickstart their World Cup campaign against India led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the 4th match of the tournament on 4th October 2024 from 7:30 PM IST.
(Quotes sourced from White Ferns Twitter/X handle)