New Zealand's Sophie Devine, after contemplating retirement, is set to return to the national team for a T20I series against Australia. The 35-year-old all-rounder, who led her team to victory in the T20 World Cup last year, is now focused on the ODI World Cup later this year in India, aiming to help New Zealand secure both the T20 and ODI world titles simultaneously.
New Zealand all-rounder Sophie Devine has her eyes set on the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025, a year after securing the T20 World Cup for her nation. She also admitted that during her recent time off from the game, retirement was on her mind.
Having last played for the White Ferns in December, in an ODI against Australia, the New Zealand veteran is set to return to the national side for the T20I series against Australia, which begins in Auckland on Friday.
Devine, now 35, led New Zealand to victory at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup last year, and admitted that during her time away from the game, the thought of retirement was not far from her mind.
Devine said,
"Completely honest? Yep (if retirement was on her mind). Certainly. To be able to have to process through a few of those things. Obviously, I am unfortunately not getting any younger, so they naturally sort of came into mind. But for me, yeah, look, just really excited to be here, just going to be focusing on each day as it comes and just really enjoying every day with the White Ferns."
The all-rounder acknowledged that the upcoming ODI World Cup, set to be held later this year in India, played a key role in her decision to prolong her career with the White Ferns. New Zealand last won the World Cup in 2000, and now has a rare opportunity to hold both the T20 and ODI world titles simultaneously.
Devine added,
"We have got a pretty big World Cup coming up later this year, which - all going well - hopefully I will be at. Certainly the World Cup was probably the biggest one. I still felt like I have got a little bit more to give in the black shirt."
Devine has not played a competitive match since January 24, when she featured for Wellington in the Women's Super Smash. However, she emphasised that her time away had only reinforced her passion for the game, making her realise that the desire to don the White Ferns jersey was stronger than ever.
"So for me, I guess that opportunity was there, but also being okay with the fact that if I was done, I have had a pretty good run of it. But certainly watching the girls over the last couple of weeks, there is certainly a big itch there that is still to scratch," he concluded.
New Zealand and Australia are set to face off in a three-match T20I series, starting on March 21.
ANI