Contribution of domestic players has improved in WPL: Marizanne Kapp

Kapp, 34, has used her vast experience to help guide Delhi Capitals to a second consecutive final. With 11 scalps in six matches, she is the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with one final opportunity to bolster that tally against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday awaiting.

In an interview, Kapp, who has 157 WODI wickets and 79 scalps in WT20Is, speaks about DC’s success, her role as a strike bowler, and more.

Excerpts:

Delhi Capitals are in the WPL final again. What has been the key to the success?

It’s the consistency of performances, and it’s not only been one or two players. Every game there have been many players who have stepped up. And that’s one thing that stands out if you compare us to some of the other teams. We’ve had so many players raising their hand and doing their specific skills when needed.

You have had a lot of success taking wickets with the new ball. T20 is seen as a format where bowlers need to contain, so how important is it to keep taking wickets?

My mindset is to actually bowl as many dot balls as possible. With that the wickets come. I feel if I focus on getting wickets, then usually you try and bowl a wicket ball and end up bowling bad balls.

You’re considered DC’s bowling spearhead. How pleasing is it to live up to that tag?

It’s been good to pick up wickets. In T20 cricket and in this league a lot of the teams are so top heavy. If you can break through and get one or two early wickets, your team is usually on the front foot. So yes, I have been happy to contribute. I still feel like I’ve probably not bowled at my best. So hopefully, that comes in the final.

Your batting strike rate seems to have improved a lot in recent months. Have you made any changes to your batting of late?

No. I would just say it comes down to form. Especially if you look at the last couple of years in ODI cricket, I’ve been a lot more consistent and I’m feeling really confident about my batting. I’ve missed out on a lot of T20 cricket for South Africa. That’s probably why my stats aren’t as good as it should have been because I have not played as many T20Is with the main focus being the ODI World Cup. I am at that stage of my career where I understand my game well, especially with the bat. It was just about bringing that ODI form into T20 cricket, and it seems to be working.

The T20 World Cup is in Bangladesh this year (Sept-Oct). How much will playing in India help prepare for that?

It always helps. If you look at my international career, I’ve played most tours in the subcontinent because we’ve had a lot of tours to India and Bangladesh. We kind of know what to expect now. The wickets at home have been very similar. It’s only when we play in Australia now that you realise how slow the wickets back home have become. But yes, playing in all these leagues helps you to adapt quickly.

Jhulan Goswami’s retirement seems to have left a void in Indian seam bowling. DC have two young India seamers, Titas Sadhu and Arundhati Reddy. What have you made of their performances and the overall resources in India?

There’s no shortage of pacers. If you look at the teams that have been really consistent, they have had more seam bowlers. I’m a big believer that you need a strike bowler in T20 cricket. You need bowlers who can bowl in the middle overs, death overs and Powerplay. Even Shikha Pandey is still bowling brilliantly. The youngsters have particularly impressed in their specific roles.

Do you enjoy mentoring and guiding young bowlers?

I’m always open if anyone wants a discussion. Every now and then they will just ask me after the game whether they should have had a particular field or bowled a certain ball. I will give my opinion, but it doesn’t mean I am always right. This league definitely helps the younger bowlers because they have seniors and internationals around whom that they can ask for help.

It felt like the overseas players had to do the heavy lifting in the first season. Has that changed?

Definitely. There have been quite a few domestic players that have had a big impact on games, with bat or ball. The contribution from the Indian players is something you can see that has really improved. It will just get better and better as the competition goes along.

There is criticism of the fielding standards in WPL. How big a concern is the number of dropped catches?

I feel the fielding has probably gone down from last year. But it’s actually been more international players who have dropped catches, not so much the domestic players. Everyone is human. We all make mistakes and there will always be dropped catches. But yes, fielding can improve.