Gujazrat Giants (GG) all-rounder Sophie Devine believes that retired-out dismissals will be widely used as a strategic move in the coming years in T20s. She accepted that even though the tactic can divide opinion, it is still a great option for the teams to use. This statement comes after retired-out dismissals have become the talk of the town in Women's Premier League (WPL) 2026.
"It's going to spark a fair bit of debate in terms of how people view it. I think for me, it's just another tool and another strategic option to use," Devine said during a media interaction organised by Gujarat Giants.
"At the end of the day, those decisions are always made with the team coming first and what's going to be best for the team to be able to gain momentum. Some people will love it, some people will hate it. I think it's a great option to be able to use," she added.
Devine on players who get retired out
Devine further said that the players who do get retired-out, should only be positive about the move and have ffaith in their respectiove team's coaching set-up as they are trying to do whatever is best for them.
"I hope that players that do get retired out can see it in a positive light that they want to be able to contribute to the team and they're doing what's best for the team," Devine stated.
"It's a really tricky one because I guess it's never nice if you are retired out. But I think we will see more of it. We're obviously starting to see a little bit more in the men's game as well, and I think the women's game will follow suit," she further added.
The debate around retired-out dismissals
Two players have been retired-out so far in the ongoing season of WPL. Gujarat Giants' Ayushi Soni became the first player to be retired-out in the history of the tournament during the side's clash against the Mumbai Indians (MI). However, it was the retired-out dismissal of UP Warriorz (UPW) batter Harleen Deol that made headlines. She was batting on 47 runs against Delhi Capitals (DC) and the team stood on 141/4 after 17 overs. However, they decided to shockingly retire Harleen out and sent Chloe Tryon to the crease instead.
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This move completely backfired for UPW as they were only able to score 13 runs in the last three overs and lost four wickets. They finished their 20 overs on 154/8 and eventually lost the match as DC chased down the target on the final delivery. The result led to sharp criticism against UPW head coach Abhishek Nayar, who had made the call to retire out Harleen.