Battler to boss: The winding road of Bhavi Devchand

Twice in the space of 12 months, Bhavi Devchand burst into tears while riding in a car with her father.

In late May of last year, they were tears of shock and dismay, upon learning she had lost her Western Australia contract.

Twelve months on, they were tears of surprise and delight, at the offer of a new beginning.

A self-described "battler", Devchand's journey back to the Big Bash and a state contract is one of tenacity and self-discovery.    

***

Fans of the Rebel WBBL could have been forgiven for asking 'Who?' when Devchand was unveiled as the newly-minted 'Mayor of the WBBL Village' last weekend.

The Melbourne Stars allrounder was nominated (reluctantly, it must be noted) by her teammates and won a public vote on social media following an elaborate campaign by teammates Elyse Villani and Holly Ferling (see Instagram post below).

 

The actual duties of the WBBL Village Mayor remain somewhat murky and decidedly tongue-in-cheek; there was a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the recently-repaired golf simulator, and Devchand can, by all accounts, cut in line at the dinner buffet, but the mild-mannered allrounder does not seem the type to exploit such powers.

The requests that have rolled in from her constituents include one for a Village hairdresser (a charge led by the Victorian contingent, fresh out of Stage 4 restrictions in Melbourne) and for an extension of the bar operating hours following matchdays. 

Her election was an unexpected development to say the least, but Devchand is rolling with it.

"I'm probably one of the more introverted and chilled people in the team," Devchand told The Scoop podcast this week.

"But at the end of the day it's a bit of fun. 

"The main rare request has been for a pole – someone requested one for pole dancing. 

"There's plenty of characters in the village, I'm not sure how I've found myself in this position … but it's very entertaining."

Devchand has made her return to the Big Bash this season after a one-year hiatus, having previously been part of the Perth Scorchers squad. 

Ribbon-cutting antics aside, becoming the Village mayor has quickly provided one unexpected benefit.

"It's started up some conversations," she said. "I've not been around for a couple of years and there's a lot of new faces and people who I would never have spoken to (otherwise) … that's been really cool, getting to know different people around the village."

***

Devchand was born in Zimbabwe to parents of Indian descent – her grandparents immigrated to Africa from Gujarat – and her heritage has played a major role in her upbringing, not least of all in her introduction to cricket.

"(My family) has maintained that Indian heritage throughout, we're still fairly religious, we celebrate Indian events … I've got a pretty close connection to India even though I've only been there once, last year," she explained.

"We moved to Australia when I was eight (in 2001) so I feel mostly Australian in that I've spent most of my life here and sound very Australian – I wouldn't have even had the opportunity to play cricket if we'd stayed in Zimbabwe, it's not even a thing.

"The opportunities we have here are incredible."

Her brother joined a local cricket club in Perth, one of the few that also fielded a women's team. Encouraged to join by her father, the wheels were set in motion – although it would take until her mid-teens for Devchand to even realise there was a Western Australia women's team.

"When I was 16 I went down to a game, WA were playing Victoria and Elyse Villani, I think she was in her first year, she absolutely boshed the ball all over the place and I remember thinking, that's so cool. 

"I don't think I've ever told her that. I was watching one of my friends make her debut, Emma King, that's why I went down to the game … and I thought, Wow, this is something. You can do this at a senior level. 

"That was a turning point where I realised I should start doing some work there to try and make it. "

Image Id: 553D015853E243B0B523792EAF844B93 Image Caption: Devchand takes a wicket during her time with WA // Getty

Devchand debuted for the Western Fury in the 50-over Women's National Cricket League in 2011-12.

She started her career as a "swashbuckling medium pacer" before transforming herself into a top-order batter, while she made the switch to bowling leg-spin five years ago, enjoying the challenge of honing a new skill.

A consistent member of the Fury squad for eight seasons, Devchand enjoyed what she believed to have been her strongest season at state level in 2018-19.

"Then I lost my contract late May 2019 … and I'd actually had a pretty good season, so it was a bit of a shock," she reflected. 

"It was the first time I'd actually felt pretty sure I would be re-contracted.

"Every other year I'd been like, 'Nah, I'm probably going to lose it, I'm probably done now'.

"At the same time if you look at the numbers I'd produced for the three, four, five seasons before that, they weren't very good at all … I was pretty devastated, it hit me pretty hard.

"I always say I'm a bit of a battler, I'm always in and out of teams, in and out of squads, but that was the first time everything was cut off and you do find yourself in the middle of nowhere."

Unsure of what to do next, Devchand booked a flight to Ireland and spent six weeks simply enjoying herself playing club cricket for Malahide – an experience she lists as among the best of her life.

Meanwhile, a friend who lived in Melbourne had suggested she move east, and try her fortunes in Victorian cricket.

"And I said, 'Why would I do that?! That's a really dumb idea – Victoria's one of the strongest teams in the league, their competition is really strong, there's no way I could crack it there'," she explained.

"And he said, 'Exactly'.

"The point was I could come across and just enjoy my cricket, because I was so certain I'd never be able to play for Victoria." 

That fork-in-the-road moment changed everything.

Living in a new city and far away from the elite program that had dictated her cricketing life for years, she realised where she had gone off track and discovered what she needed to do to recapture her love of the game.

Devchand joined Ringwood Cricket Club, taking on a mentoring role playing in a top-grade side full of teenagers.

"I'd got into the habit of always reaching for the next level – you're always searching and searching and you've got to tick all the boxes and I wanted it so bad," she said.

"Coming to Victoria was the perfect break for me where I could just enjoy it.

"(Ringwood) is a real family club and I think was the perfect cocktail of letting go of searching for the next level, playing with a group of young kids, having a way to give back because I enjoy coaching as well, and that element of just chilling out. 

"I stopped going so hard all the time in cricket, and out of cricket, and it all just clicked for me. 

"I ended up having a really good season with both bat and ball and found myself back in the system mostly by accident."

Ending up with either a Victoria or Melbourne Stars contract was not the goal or the plan.

At the end of the 2019-20 season in Victorian Premier Cricket, and as the COVID-19 pandemic and all the border closures that came with it took hold, Devchand returned home to Perth.

It was not until late May that she received another unexpected phone call.

"(My manager) said, 'I've had a call, Victoria are going to offer you a contract'," she said.

"I was in the exact same place I was when I found out I lost my contract a year earlier. 

"I was at work, I'd just got in the car and my dad was there.

"When I lost my contract, I broke down in tears to him. And I did the same thing this time.

"He said, 'Now what, you lost it already, what are you doing?'

"I said, 'No, it's the other way around, Dad! But I have to move to Victoria in two weeks' time'."

***

Moving – longer term, this time – to Victoria in the middle of a pandemic was by no means easy.

When Devchand arrived, things were tracking well in the state, restrictions were easing and the state was reopening.

Within weeks, the second wave had taken hold and Victoria plunged back into lockdown, just as she was beginning to navigate life in a new state program.

"It was tough at times, but if I'm honest, personally I was in heaven," she reflected.

"The Australian players were around and so the standard of training was unbelievable. 

"We didn't have access to a lot of the normal things – we barely got on turf, we had no centre wickets, the last game of cricket I played was in March and it was challenging … I was living with Kim Garth who also moved to Melbourne for cricket and neither of us had family around and we were just stuck in the house.

"We got to know each other well, which was a bonus, but it was challenging." 

Lockdown also provided Devchand with a chance to tick off one off-field goal: finally starting the podcast she had been thinking about for years.

Titled The Inside Edge, she explores one of her greatest passions – speaking with elite athletes and coaches to analyse the arena and psychology of high performance and the highs and lows that come with pursuing potential.

To date, her guests have included Nicole Bolton, Mike Hussey, Elyse Villani and former professional footballer Drewe Broughton.

"I've learnt more than I expected (doing the podcast), for sure," Devchand said. "It's unbelievable, you learn so much just from having conversations."

Forget requests for dancing poles and hairdressers, it is that passion for the psychology of performance that makes Devchand the ideal sounding board for players in the WBBL Village.

Asked how she would navigate a season like no other, and about the potential pitfalls of spending an entire tournament cohabiting an enclosed space with every single one of your rivals, Devchand's response was telling.

"This is as challenging as it gets, to be honest," she said. 

"We call it 'FOPO'. There's FOMO (fear of missing out), but FOPO is 'fear of other people's opinions'.

"I've yet to meet anyone who can honestly say they're not scared at all of other people's opinions and it's probably the biggest issue in society today.

"I along with many others are riddled with it.

"Coming into the village environment after you've played a game, you come back home, or what we call home, and there's 200 other people who've just watched you.

"And you probably think (they're) judging what you've done, and how do you not take that personally?

"In a normal season you go back to the hotel or your own house and it's just your teammates (around you).

"It is a very challenging environment.

"But at the end of the day I think everyone will learn and grow from the experience."

And what has Bhavi Devchand learnt about her own ideal mindset for success since that moment in May 2019, when her cricket world as she knew it was ripped away in one phone call?

"I'm not sure I can fully answer that yet," she said. "I've gone through waves.

"I do need an element of focus, I need an element of competition and I actually really enjoy that.

"That's been a learning from the last couple of months. 

"But it's about loving the competition as opposed to needing to be great in that competition. 

"Can I approach it and still be okay to fail? Give it a red-hot crack, get in the contest, but as soon as I walk off the line, I'm okay, I'm fine, life goes on. 

"In the past I'd approach it the same way, but the world would end if I didn't perform."