Image Credit- ECB
As she gets ready to
captain her team in the first of five Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against
New Zealand in Dunedin on Tuesday, Heather Knight says she has no regrets about
withdrawing from the WPL and skipping Royal Challengers Bangalore’s trophy-winning
campaign.
When it became apparent that the schedule would interfere with her ability to
lead England in the T20I leg of the New Zealand tour—a crucial component of the
team’s preparations for the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh later this year—Knight,
33, withdrew from the competition. The tournament culminated with RCB’s victory
over Delhi Capitals on Sunday.
Seamer Lauren Bell
left the UP Warriorz squad to concentrate on her England preparations, and
South Africa’s Nadine de Klerk, who played just once in the tournament, took
her spot in the RCB squad.
Many of England’s well-known T20I players, such as Danni Wyatt, Alice Capsey,
Sophie Ecclestone, and Nat Sciver-Brunt, choose to remain in India and will
reunite with the team in advance of the team’s fourth and fifth games later
this month. But Knight claimed that as captain of England, she knew exactly
what her priorities were.
“I was always going to come [to New Zealand], so that was quite an easy
decision for me,” she said. “As captain, I wanted to be here and I
want to be around the team for the build-up, and those three games.
“The ideal world would have been to leave the WPL a little early, but that
wasn’t an option to do so, because of the rules about replacement players. We
wanted to have someone available for the whole competition. Those are the
choices that players have to make now, it can be quite tricky, but I think it’s
really important that it’s made on an individual level.”
Due to the time
difference, Knight admitted that she hadn’t watched the final, in which the
Royal Challengers of Bangalore (RCB) defeated Delhi by eight wickets with three
balls remaining, but she had seen the highlights that morning and had been kept
up to date on the festivities, mainly by her England team-mate Kate Cross, who
wasn’t included in the playing squad.
“I was getting a few messages, from Kate who’s there and obviously some of
the overseas [players] as well. I was really pleased for them that they managed
to win, after quite a tough year last year. I guess I could have been there,
but I’m not really thinking about that. I’m super happy to be here. Obviously
the right thing for me, and for the team, was for me to be here.”