‘I’ll stick with being World Boss; let Gayle be Universe Boss’

One of the most destructive batters in world cricket, Deandra Dottin has consistently won matches on the biggest stage. The 30-year-old, who smashed the fastest women’s T20I hundred back in 2010, talks about the game’s evolution, the cricketers she admires, and what it felt like to be compared with Viv Richards

Deandra Dottin calls herself World Boss. No prizes for guessing who inspired the nickname. She often lives up to it. Take for instance the way she performed in the final of the Women’s T20 Challenge at Pune last weekend. After scoring a 44-ball 62 (one four, four sixes), she took two wickets with her seam bowling to guide Supernovas to a four-run win over Velocity.

She had arrived in India a few days after cracking a 53-ball 111 (eight fours, nine sixes) for Barmy Army against Spirit at Dubai in the Fairbreak Invitational tournament. Few women can hit a cricket ball as hard as Dottin. Her record for the fastest hundred in women’s Twenty20 Internationals — off 38 balls — is still intact. It was also the first hundred in women’s T20Is. A little over 12 years have passed since she achieved the feat, after walking out to bat in the 10th over, with the West Indies on 52 for four, against South Africa in the opening match of the 2010 World T20 at Basseterre.

Excerpts from an exclusive interview with Dottin in Pune:

There has been a lot of talk of a full-fledged women’s IPL and that it could be held as early as next year.

Trust me, India is ready for a women’s IPL. This is the fourth edition of the Women’s T20 Challenge and you could see a lot of improvement. I found this edition more competitive than the last one [in Sharjah]. We have seen more players coming up with good performances. It was good to see more runs and boundaries being scored this year and to see a score like 180 becoming a competitive one. The T20 Challenge has been an important tournament in women’s cricket, especially for players who don’t get the opportunity to play for their countries.

Whenever the Women’s IPL is discussed, the topic of India’s bench strength comes up.

I believe India has the bench strength. Look at KP [Kiran Prabhu Navgire]. I was watching her for the first time [in Velocity’s match against Trailblazers], though I had heard of her. I was very impressed with the way she showed her skills. She played to her strengths. There [enough] talent on the bench in India to start a women’s IPL.