Deandra Dottin wore a smile as she started speaking about the Women’s Premier League. A week ago, she was roped in by the Gujarat Giants in the pre-season auction for a whopping Rs. 1.70 crore. It took her a while to come to terms with the fact that she was the most expensive overseas player in the exercise.
Dottin has had a strange relationship with the WPL thus far. In the inaugural edition two years ago, she was released by the Giants at the last minute, triggering controversy. Last season, she went unsold.
This time around, she attracted an intense bidding war before eventually returning to the Gujarat outfit.
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“Yeah, life has come full circle,” Dottin told Sportstar. “I think everything happens for a reason. I was supposed (destined) to be in the 2025 WPL, and I’ll be there to showcase my talent and what I do best…”
The West Indies all-rounder, who came out of retirement earlier this year and went on to play for the national team in the Women’s T20 World Cup and is featuring in the ongoing tour of India, believes playing in franchise leagues help in learning a thing or two.
“It’s actually good to play in franchise leagues. You always get that experience and to feature alongside players from different teams like India, a couple of Australians and others. You get to learn more of other players’ personalities and how they go about their games as well,” Dottin said.
At 33, her power-hitting and ability to find breakthroughs with the ball could bolster the Giants’ chances in the WPL, scheduled to begin in the first week of February, next year. And, the seasoned campaigner believes that observing how the top players around the world carry themselves on the field is a learning in itself.
“We actually learn a lot from other players because you may not have the set up that they have, but you make use of what you have in order to match it or probably be better. In the process, you do learn a lot,” she said.
“Some of them play shots differently, whereas you can take a leaf out of their style of play and how they go about their game as well. It’s not going to be exactly the same, but it’s just taking an example of their performance and to see if you actually fit it in and see if it works for you…”
A veteran of 143 women’s ODIs and 135 women’s T20Is, Dottin became the first woman to score a century in T20Is. She breached the three-figure mark — a 38-ball ton, the fastest by a woman in the format — against South Africa during the Women’s T20 World Cup in 2010.
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In the past, Dottin has featured in the Women’s T20 Challenge between 2018 and 2022, and as she gears up for her maiden WPL, she just wants to hit the ground running. “I’ve played in that tournament (Women’s T20 Challenge) in India before. So, I don’t think it’s going to be that much of a difference.
“It will probably be just playing in a different state or a few venues. It’s a matter of assessing things quickly and trying to gain some quick advances and gains for the job…” she said.
While she would start preparing for her maiden WPL in the coming weeks, for now, Dottin’s focus remains on the ODI series against India and she expects the team to quickly assess the conditions at the Kotambi Stadium here; shrug off the disappointments of the T20I series defeat and just put their best foot forward as a team.