'I know that I belong here' - Gautami Naik finds belief after WPL breakthrough

Life changed almost overnight for Gautami Naik in January after her maiden WPL fifty for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Calls started coming home, people began recognising her, and the moment truly sank in when she heard her mother's choked voice.

"My mom was crying, saying she felt so proud," Naik, 27, says.

At her academy too, younger players began looking at her differently. They said, "If Gautami can do it, we can too."

Naik came in to bat with RCB at 9 for 2 in the first game of the Vadodara leg against GG. Smriti Mandhana told her to build a partnership, even if it meant grinding her way through. They aimed for 160 but ended up with 178, Naik's contribution a 55-ball 73 that made her the WPL's first Indian uncapped half-centurion.

"A lot changed after that knock. I was shocked myself, but at the same time I became very calm," she says. "I felt like I too can dominate at this level."

Naik has also drawn much of that confidence from her preparation. After the auction, all the Indian players at RCB were made aware of their roles. A month-long camp followed in Bengaluru under batting coach RX Murali, and comprehensive reports on everyone was then sent to head coach Malolan Rangarajan.

"We worked a lot on mental preparation, shot selection and game scenarios," Naik says of that stint. From handling dot balls and big crowds to developing solutions mid-innings on a variety of surfaces, the focus was on details.

"What you're seeing now is the result of all that work."

Naik also had something else to bank on: the experience of having played alongside Mandhana at the Maharashtra Premier League. Their first interactions were in the middle, where conversations were brief and mostly specific. But there have been a few chats beyond the boundary that she dearly holds on to.

"She gave me a lot of input, not just technical, but mental," Naik says. "At the MPL, we mostly met on match days. Even there, there's a tendency for big players to come, do their job and leave.

"But Smriti spent time with younger players, talking about what it takes to go to the next level and the importance of becoming a match-winner. She spoke to me about specific areas I could focus on as a batter."

Off the field, Naik has also drawn inspiration from a few of her WPL team-mates.

"I've bonded well with everyone, but especially Grace Harris and Nadine de Klerk," she says. "Grace's game plan is very simple. There's so much clarity in her stroke-making. She enjoys herself on the field and has fun. She never looks like she's under pressure.

"From Nadine, I've learnt a lot from her never-say-die attitude. No matter the situation, whether we're winning or losing, she finds a way to contribute. If we needed wickets, she delivered. Even in the first game, when our hopes weren't high with the bat, she played a crucial innings. Watching that closely has taught me a lot."

Naik's success at state level with Maharashtra, and at the MPL, were as a top-order batter. But over the past three weeks, she has understood the need to be flexible and taking up whatever vacancy there is in the XI.

"I just want to play. I'm ready to play any role the team gives me. It's not like I only want to open. I prepare that way in practice as well," she says. "I was already told I might get chances at No. 4 or 5, so I prepared my game accordingly.

"Wherever there's space for me and wherever the team needs me, I have to be ready. If they ask me to open, I'm ready for that too. It's my slot."

That readiness is underpinned by a set routine that involves meditation, priming sessions and music. "These things keep me calm. I've become very professional about it, especially meditation," she says. "With music, I'm pretty particular. I like listening to slow songs [before a match or going out to bat]."

Ahead of Thursday's final - RCB's second - that calm, Naik feels, has been her biggest takeaway from the season.

The half-century may have altered how others see her, but more importantly, it has changed how she sees herself. "I know now that I belong here."