The conversations were held in two parts. First with Beth Mooney and Sophie Devine, followed by Anushka Sharma and Kashvee Gautam. All four players have been using the Apple Watch Series 11 during the tournament.
Technology now travels with the player
For Beth Mooney, the biggest change over the years has been how accessible performance tools have become. Earlier, video analysis and data were limited to structured team environments. Today, players carry much of that capability with them.
“Being able to record training and games wherever you are has been huge,” Mooney said. “You can review sessions, understand movement, and look back at footage almost instantly.”
Sophie Devine added that wearables have become especially useful when touring, where training environments and routines often change.
“In India, routines are different. Some days you are indoors, some days on a treadmill, sometimes in gyms that are not what you are used to,” she said. “Tracking activity helps make sure you are still doing enough, even when things feel unfamiliar.”
WPL training is about holding the line
For Anushka Sharma and Kashvee Gautam, the focus during the WPL is not about building fitness but maintaining it. With matches, travel, promotional commitments and limited recovery windows, training loads are adjusted carefully.“In season, it is about maintaining what you already have,” Sharma explained. “The idea is to make sure strength and fitness do not drop.”
Fast bowler Kashvee Gautam spoke about how monitoring physical stress has become critical during a packed schedule.
“Variables like resting heart rate give you an idea of how stressed your body is,” she said. “If it is higher than usual, you know you need recovery. If things are normal, you can push a bit.”
Sleep data matters more than hours slept
Across both conversations, sleep tracking emerged as one of the most important tools during the tournament. Late nights, match days and travel often disrupt normal routines, making recovery harder.
“Sometimes you think you have slept enough, but the data tells you otherwise,” one of the players said. “Deep sleep makes a big difference to how you feel the next day.”
Devine added that during back-to-back fixtures, understanding sleep quality helps players decide how much to train or recover between games.
Even elite athletes watch their rings
Despite being professional athletes, the players admitted they relate to the everyday obsession many users have with closing activity rings.
“There is definitely a competitive element,” Devine said. “Closing rings does become a habit.”
The ability to tweak goals during different phases of a tournament was also highlighted as useful, especially on recovery days or heavy travel schedules.
“When the rings do not close, it feels strange,” Sharma said. “It becomes part of your daily routine.”
Wearables are now part of the ecosystem
The players agreed that wearables have become a regular part of modern sport, not as a replacement for coaching or intuition, but as an additional layer of awareness.
“It helps you understand your body better,” Gautam said. “That awareness is important when the margins are so small.”
As cricket continues to demand more from players physically, tools that help monitor workload, recovery and sleep are becoming increasingly relevant. For Gujarat Giants players during the WPL, technology sits quietly in the background, guiding decisions day by day, right down to whether the rings close before the day ends.
