Nat Sciver-Brunt was in fabulous type at the WPL. She rattled up scores of 80 n.o., 57, 42, 75 n.o., 18, 37, 38, 69, 77 and 30. And she additionally picked up 12 wickets to play a big function — like she did in 2023 — in Mumbai Indians’ triumph in the world’s greatest ladies’s cricket league. The factor with Sciver-Brunt is that she will get into fabulous type usually. More usually than most cricketers. Little marvel she is already one of the all-time greats. Excerpts from an interview Sciver-Brunt gave The Hindu:
In the WPL’s first version, you had been the player-of-the-match in the eliminator and the remaining. You could have been reminded of that, the method you carried out this season, too.
I have most likely shocked myself, to be trustworthy. I have performed quite a bit of cricket in the previous few months, not all of that has been as profitable because it has been right here. So yeah, it’s very nice to be ready to assist contribute to some wins for Mumbai. Winning the first version was particular. I guess everybody’s expertise had been in an excellent place. So if one particular person wasn’t ready to carry out on that day, the subsequent particular person would. I peaked at the proper time for that event, which was actually particular.
Another all-rounder in the squad, Hayley Matthews, has additionally been good for MI. And you appear to take pleasure in one another’s firm whereas batting.
I am actually pleased for Hayley as a result of she had been struggling a bit bit together with her type and she was determined to rating some runs and get into the event. So for her to battle away and be there with me and placed on an excellent partnership collectively was actually particular. We have had a fairly comparable group since 12 months one of Mumbai Indians. It is nice to be collectively out on the pitch.
How did it really feel while you had been picked by MI in the first season?
That was fairly mad really. We had been taking part in a World Cup match while the public sale was occurring. So in our staff, some individuals came upon earlier than the sport, some individuals came upon after the sport. So that entire day was a bit surreal actually. And yeah, discovering out that I had been purchased by Mumbai Indians was a extremely particular second.
Multidimensional: In addition to successful the Orange Cap this season, Sciver-Brunt additionally claimed 12 wickets to play a big function in Mumbai Indians’ second WPL title. | Photo credit score: Getty Images
Did you do some quantity crunching, changing ₹3.2 crore into British kilos?
Yes, I checked out the numbers.
And had been you impressed?
Very impressed. I began taking part in cricket once we weren’t paid and I performed in the first WBBL the place I spent all of my cash rapidly. Getting picked for the WPL was a really particular second for me and my household. And we’re actually grateful for that. And for ladies’s cricket to be heading in that route is actually, actually particular. I clearly watched the IPL earlier than the WPL got here alongside and saw the insanity, the big scores and crazy atmospheres. I didn’t expect to be part of something like that. My spouse Katherine [Sciver-Brunt] has been a big supporter of RCB.
How do you discover being part of MI?
They are an excellent franchise. They clearly need to win and need to do issues very well in phrases of the cricket, but in addition you get sorted very well. And you realize, supporters like my dad and Katherine got here out to help me. They additionally bought very well sorted. So it’s a particular franchise to be part of. And now we have created an excellent group, between the gamers and the teaching employees.
How do you assume the WPL is impacting the ladies’s sport globally?
Being ready to carry out below big stress is an actual optimistic for younger women rising up, aspiring to need to play for India or for his or her nations. To be ready to carry out in that sort of stress is a really tough factor to do. It can be an excellent studying curve for becoming a member of a world staff.
You have been taking part in at the high stage for greater than a decade. How a lot has the ladies’s sport modified over the years?
It has modified massively, in the method that we play, the scores that we wish to obtain and can obtain. And then the media consideration round the sport. The large consideration on us brings optimistic and adverse issues.
You have performed totally different sports activities. What made you select cricket?
I had good hand-eye coordination from tennis and hockey and all types of sports activities, actually. I guess by the time I was a bit older, I was taking part in cricket and soccer. So at that time, I determined I favored the cricket staff greater than the soccer staff. I was taking part in membership cricket and taking part in at my college. I determined I ought to most likely simply do one relatively than each as a result of I was going to tire myself out.
Tough love: Dealing with spouse Katherine’s bowling has helped Nat enhance with the bat. ‘She is going to try to take your off-stump out or take your head off. She prepared me for facing some really hard bowlers.’ | Photo credit score: Getty Images
So you didn’t need to be an Ellyse Perry and rating a stunning objective in the World Cup finals?
I don’t assume I was ok for that.
Recently, you turned the first girl to make 50-plus scores in six successive Tests. But you’ve performed solely 12 Tests since your debut in 2014, as ladies hardly ever get to play Tests nowadays.
There is clearly a scheduling drawback with taking part in Test matches, proper? So I guess that kind of factor would have to be labored out. But I am glad we get to play no less than the multi-format sequence, like the one in opposition to India. I know quite a bit of nations are actually determined to play Tests.
How do you look again at successful the 2017 World Cup at residence?
That was a particular event, actually. Everything kind of fell into line. We most likely didn’t have the best of begins taking part in in opposition to India and coming off the pitch questioning what occurred. That event kind of kick-started one other stage of our professionalism, I assume. Just for it to be at residence, and it was like the stars aligned, actually. And to finish with a tremendous match at Lord’s in entrance of a big crowd.
England beat India in the remaining.
That remaining, you realize, sticks in quite a bit of individuals’s minds, like quite a bit of the women who’re younger in the England facet now do not forget that sport and being impressed by that.
Did you watch Harmanpreet Kaur’s good knock in the semifinal in opposition to Australia? That modified ladies’s cricket right here in India.
l undoubtedly watched some highlights. While the match was on, we will need to have been coaching or something like that. When India and Australia come up in opposition to one another, it’s going to be a big sport. So we had been preserving one eye on the rating. Harman whacked it completely in every single place, didn’t she?
Synergy: Sciver-Brunt has loved taking part in below Harmanpreet’s captaincy. ‘With the bat, she has got a switch that she can flick at any time, really. She can just accelerate things like I haven’t actually seen anybody else do.’ | Photo credit score: Emmanual Yogini
Now she is your captain at Mumbai Indians.
Harman is all the time open to that communication with us all, and desires to be taught from these experiences which are on the bench. She has bought a swap that she will flick at any time, actually. She can simply speed up issues with the bat like I haven’t actually seen anybody else do.
The hardest batter you’ve bowled to?
Alyssa Healy. When she is on, this can be very tough to bowl to her. The identical with Harman, too, to be truthful. There are some those that simply can, no matter supply you bowl, it’s as in the event that they had been ready for that supply.
The hardest bowler you’ve confronted?
Katherine Brunt. She goes to attempt to take your off-stump out or take your head off. With me and her, we by no means needed to let the different one in. She ready me for going through some actually arduous bowlers. Now it isn’t simple going through somebody like Amelia Kerr. And Jhulan Goswami was additionally extraordinarily tough for a batter. She advised me she has the picture of her getting me out. What she stated was, ‘You are on my wall’. And the story unfolded as to why I was on the wall. She was such a tough bowler to face. And she by no means missed a trick, did she?
Your favorite cricketers, male and feminine?
When I was youthful, I actually favored Freddie Flintoff. It is tough to choose one title amongst ladies as I have performed quite a bit of franchise cricket with some of them, like Meg Lanning and Harman. I have performed quite a bit of cricket in opposition to Australia and questioned how I may deliver the kind of performances that Lanning did.
Published – March 21, 2025 11:55 pm IST
