Alyssa Healy, Mitchell Starc: cricket’s power couple grab eyeballs in India

Now the same age as Starc at 33, Healy — along with compatriots Meg Lanning (Delhi Capitals) and Elysse Perry (Royal Challengers Bangalore) — have been part of a golden generation in women’s cricket who are still ruling the roost. She has won five T20 World Cups (2010, 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2020) and the ODI World Cup in New Zealand in 2023.

She has 2,446 T20I runs under her belt at a strike rate of nearly 128, with one century and 14 half-centuries, and also led the national T20I side in India recently when regular captain Meg took a break from the game. Back home, she has captained Sydney Sixers in the WBBL.

Barely two days ago, Healy showed her tough Aussie face when she lunged at a male intruder during their match against Mumbai, and held him at bay until security personnel intervened. Social media went viral with photos of her in ‘action’, with the warning: don’t mess with an Aussie.

‘’It’s almost surreal that after nothing from the first two games, we now have two out of four and are sitting at number three. The schedule is such that you don’t get much time to think after a game, but my message in the change room was pretty much the same — to play with the same effort and energy and not to get into a shell,’’ said Healy, whose Warriorz will be taking on home team Royal Challengers Bangalore next on Monday.

Finally, how does the veteran see the WPL evolving in the first two seasons? ‘’The teams have done a good job in unearthing domestic players. It’s an improvement from the first season when they relied more on overseas professionals and as a result, the gaps between the teams have reduced,’’ she said.