WPL Boosts Indian Domestic Players' Confidence, Says Marizanne Kapp

With experience across playing in multiple franchise T20 tournaments worldwide, Marizanne is uniquely positioned to assess the impact of WPL, through her time of interacting with young players at Delhi Capitals (DC) since 2023.

"I think just in general, if you look at the WPL's first year, it was probably mainly your internationals performing and your Indian international players performing well. From years two and three, you could already see there was a bigger impact from the domestic players, and I think that's the beauty of these leagues.

"Like at first, especially if you're not used to international cricket or playing against international players, it can be difficult at times. Then I feel like once these youngsters actually start playing with international cricketers and they realise, 'Hey, I can still perform against the best in the world', it just gives them a different level of confidence and I think you see that throughout the performances of the domestic players.

"So there's no specific thing like batting, bowling or fielding, I can mention. I think it's just in general, we've seen a lot more match-winning performances from domestic players," Marizanne told IANS in a select media roundtable ahead of the new WPL season starting on January 9.

Asked about maintaining consistency in the notoriously unpredictable T20 format, Marizanne suggested there's no one-size-fits-all approach, with success dependent on individual playing styles and self-awareness.

"I think it's a bit of both, to be honest. It depends on what type of player you are, especially as a batter. You have people who actually perform better when they just go out and trust their instincts and just see ball, hit ball. Then you have your other, say, stroke players that need a bit of time to get themselves set and then go at it.

"So, I think it's different for everyone. But obviously, the more you get to play it, you learn a lot about yourself. I feel like even if you have to compare my own career, like ODI cricket by now, I know exactly how I want to structure my game, training, innings, when I'm batting or bowling," she said.

Despite her wealth of experience accumulated since 2009, Marizanne admitted T20 cricket still continues to present fresh challenges and learning opportunities for her. "With T20 cricket, even me at this age, I'm still learning a lot about myself. So, I think it's different in every league and every wicket you play on and probably just about adapting and being a bit smarter."

With the advent of T20 leagues, Marizanne candidly acknowledged the physical toll of the demanding schedule leading to changes in her training and recovery regimen, especially the move towards maintenance-focused exercises.

"Look, it's not always been easy. I'm not going to lie. The body is sore, and a bit sore some days, but I've really worked hard. So in the past, for example, before I would put in extremely hardwork and by the time I get to two pm, I'd hardly do any gym sessions and just focus on cricket mainly.

"Now that I'm a bit older, I've really tried to, throughout the competition, the primers we do. I started to really join in on that and focus a lot more on mobility and the smaller, almost like rehab kind of exercises. So that's something I try and do on a daily basis.

"So I moved away from lifting heavy weights. Everything is more about maintenance now and just keeping the smaller areas, body parts conditioned. I would say that's probably been my main focus," she concluded.

- IANS