 "WPL 2024: With new training regime, Kiran Navgire wants to 'build innings and win matches' for UP Warriorz")
Kiran Navgire catapulted into the limelight in 2022 on the back of her six-hitting exploits. Her rise to fame was as fast as her quick hands which are always itching to hit the ball out of the park. But after six T20Is for India in 2022 and playing for UP Warriorz in the inaugural season of Women’s Premier League (WPL) in 2023, the Solapur-born batter went out of the news and as a result, fell off everyone’s radar.
Navgire, a self-confessed MS Dhoni fan, had first become the talk of the town when she smashed the highest individual score in Women’s Senior T20 Trophy in 2022 - 162 playing for Nagaland against Arunachal Pradesh. In that whirlwind knock, the Maharashtra player, who changed teams in search of recognition, smashed 16 sixes.
In the Women’s T20 Challenge the same year, before it was replaced by WPL, Navgire was the joint second-highest six hitter (5), only behind Harmanpreet Kaur, who took more than twice as many balls as the UP Warriorz batter to slam her six maximums.
Hitting a maximum is at the core of Navgire’s batting. It’s what made her the player that we know, but the India cricketer, who has moved back to Maharashtra from Nagaland, doesn’t want to be known as a one-dimensional player. She wants to use the upcoming WPL season as a platform to make clear that she can hit sixes, but can also build an innings and accumulate runs when needed.
“This season is going to be different for me from the previous season,” she told Firstpost. “Last season, I was going with my natural game, but this time I have put focus on planning out my innings. For the last few months, I have been planning how to build an innings. Which gaps I can pick, which shots I can play and what is the bowling plan against me.
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More Shorts“Last year my approach was to always attack, but this time it would not be the same for me. I must play as per the merit of the ball. Have to hit the loose balls, but if I manage to build an innings, it would be useful to the team. This is what I am trying to achieve this time in WPL 2024.”
What will change
Will this mean Navgire ditching her natural game? No.
Muscling the balls out of the park remains her favourite part of the job, but the time away from the limelight allowed Navgire to reflect on her game. After making the jump to the top level, Navgire continued to live under the reputation that everyone had, in the process not evolving her game in a fast-paced sport.
“I wouldn’t say this will be completely against my natural game,” she explained. “I will say that I was only practising to play big shots, but now I know that you can’t start hitting from the very start. It was WPL, there was excitement, people were coming to see my sixes and it was in my mind that they would be entertained if I hit sixes, but we were not planning the innings. We were playing in that flow.
“But this time, I have to make my team win and for that, it’s important to plan the innings. All the franchises are aware of my batting style, so I would want to do something different. I am not going to stop sixes, but my innings should also include rotating the strike and punishing bad balls.”
How the change was made
The fundamentals of any change are to bring that into the preparation process as well and Navgire has tried to do the same. While training with Mohan Jadhav in Pune, she decided to move away from just big hits and implemented a more comprehensive approach which included different types of deliveries and shots.
“I have not changed many things in my batting. The change is in the way of training. Earlier the shots were decided and the bowlers, so the chances were created somehow on their own, but the focus is now on playing according to the balls. Have to play shots according to the areas of the ball,” the former Velocity player said.
“Mohan Jadhav is now my coach and now I am training with him on learning to build my innings. I also made a plan with UPW trainer Tanuja Lele for diet and gym for a year. This time I am mentally ready and physically ready as well. This will be good for me.”
Giving back to society
Her Pune stint wasn’t just all about preparing herself for WPL. Whenever she is in the city, other girls from her village train with her, with a dream in their eyes to be the next breakout.
Navgire, who hails from Mire village, almost 200km away from Pune, began as an athlete, taking part in the shot put, javelin throw and 100-metre race and medalled multiple times at state and national level, before making her foray into cricket a decade ago. In many respects, Navgire is a trailblazer who is leading a revolution of sorts, opening doors for more girls from her village and nearby places to become sportspersons.
“People were negative in my village about me picking cricket. They were like ‘You have already played nationals in athletics, you must stick that’ or ‘Your age is not right for cricket’ but since I played for India and WPL, I have been receiving messages that Kiran didi please guide us on how we can make our children also take up cricket. That mentality has changed,” she shared.
“Whenever I am training in Pune, there are 3-4 girls from my village who train with me. Their college and hostel is in Pune only. They are doing all this on their own. The parents were negative at the start but I am seeing how cricket is changing, and how women’s cricket is progressing in India. So I think if I can help someone become the next Kiran it would be so good. Hence I have started to train them.”
Upbeat for WPL 2024
UPW finished third in the five-team WPL 2023 and failed to reach the final after a defeat to Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator. If there’s one aspect that didn’t help UPW’s cause last season was the lack of runs from the Indian batters. Navgire is upbeat that Warriorz have a better squad this season.
Warriorz spent Rs 2.10 crore in the auction on players like Danielle Wyatt, Vrinda Dinesh, Poonam Khemnar, Saima Thakor, and Gouher Sultana.
“Our batting lineup was a bit unsorted the last time but this time everything seems to have fallen into place. We have excellent batters, all-rounders, and world class bowlers. We will have better chances this time and our preparation is also like that,” Navgire said.
While many have one eye on the T20 World Cup 2024 which is slated to take place in September–October, Navgire is not ready to think that far. She knows every performance counts. It’s now that matters and which will decide the future.
“It’s my dream to win the World Cup for India but I need to get myself ready; physically and mentally and I need to first win what is on our hands and then need to think about the future. I am thinking more about the tournament that is to come. My target is to win for my team what I have in front of me and after that, I will think about the future. Roles change, and the batting lineup changes. Now my focus is WPL. I don’t need to put pressure on myself to think about the future. I must try to win this tournament for my team now,” she signed off.
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