“The amount of time you give to training and learning your craft, getting fitter, getting stronger. That’s helping the game to improve as a whole.” Alyssa Healy speaks about the increasing standards in the women’s game.
The newly appointed full-time skipper of the Australian women’s team Alyssa Healy is currently in India to participate in the ongoing 2nd edition of the Women’s Premier League.
She is trusted with the leadership duties for the UP Warriroz. She led the new franchise really well in the inaugural edition of the tournament, taking them to the eliminator stages of the tournament. However, they ended up on the losing side by a massive 72-run margin against the eventual champions Mumbai Indians.
“I genuinely love coming to India. It’s one of the most unique places in the world and as a cricketer, you’re always very well looked after. I have been a little bit sick on this trip, but I can’t blame the food. I do love my Indian food, let me declare that.” The Australian and the UP Warriorz skipper Alyssa Healy is loving her time in India and speaks about her love for Indian food.
In the ongoing 2nd edition of the WPL, they had a poor start to their season losing their first couple of matches against RCB and DC. however, they bounced back with a couple of victories on the trot against Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants. They stunned the home side Delhi Capitals in their last game as they got over the line by one run in an edge-of-the-seat thriller.
“The standard of the game has continued to improve, which is exactly the point of the competition. It’s about creating depth in Indian cricket. We are seeing more and more young players confident in performing on the big stage. That’s going to do wonders for Indian cricket in the next 10-15 years.” Alyssa Healy speaks about the role of WPL in improving the standard of the game and creating depth in Indian cricket.
We have seen youngsters hold their nerve and keep their calm to win matches for their team under immense pressure. One of the few prime examples of that was how the 29-year-old batting all-rounder from Wayanad Kerela Sajeevan Sajana displayed the nerves of steal on her WPL debut, needing five runs off the last ball, stepped out to Alice Capsey and tonked the ball over the ropes to take Mumbai Indians over the line in a last-ball thriller in a tournament opener against the Delhi Capitals.
The 32-year-old leg-spinner from Kerela Asha Sobhana claimed the first five-wicket haul by an Indian bowler (4-0-22-5) and she was awarded the Player of the Match for her outstanding performance with the ball against UP Warriorz in the 2nd match of the season. The 26-year-old left-arm spinner from Himachal Pradesh Tanuja Kanwer has been a consistent performer with the ball for Gujarat Giants in the ongoing 2nd edition of the WPL. She has picked up at least a wicket in all the innings she has bowled so far in the ongoing edition of the WPL. She currently has eight wickets to her name in six innings so far.
“The amount of time you give to training and learning your craft, getting fitter, getting stronger. That’s helping the game improve as a whole. People are getting more dynamic, and more powerful. The bats are also a lot better than what they used to be. The fact that the combination of all those things has come together is going to increase the power factor in the game.” Alyssa Healy speaks about the significance of training.
(Quotes sourced from The Times Of India)