From Shafali Verma to Richa Ghosh - Meet the ICC Women's U-19 T20 World Cup 2023 stars
ICC Women's U-19 T20 World Cup 2023 is done, and India has emerged as the champion of the inaugural edition. Meanwhile, it is worth looking at the Indian stars who made the dream come true.
FollowThey can't be anonymous anymore. But, even in a cricket-obsessed India, very few would have heard of them before their campaign in the U-19 World Cup culminated in the country's maiden ICC triumph in women's cricket. Who are they? The PTI lets you in on their background.
Shafali Verma, captain, opening batter
The Indian U-19 captain from Rohtak is by far the most decorated of the lot, having already played in three World Cup finals at the senior level. In November 2019, aged 15 years and 285 days, she surpassed her idol Sachin Tendulkar to become the youngest to score a half-century in international cricket.
Shweta Sehrawat, opening batter
The South Delhi girl took up cricket after trying her hand at volleyball, badminton and skating. Fell cheaply in a small chase of 69 in the title clash but played a massive role in taking India to the final. Topped the run charts with 297 from seven innings, scoring at an astonishing average of 99.00 and a strike rate close to 140.
Soumya Tiwari, vice-captain
She started playing cricket with a wooden paddle used by her mom for washing clothes. The daughter of an election supervisor at Bhopal Collectorate was initially rejected by her coach Suresh Chianani, who later made an exception for the batter. She scored the winning runs in the seven-wicket win over England.
Trisha Reddy, opening batter
Daughter of former U-16 national hockey player Gongadi Reddy, the girl from Bhadrachalam in Telangana possessed excellent hand-eye coordination at an early age. Excited, her father sold his four-acre ancestral farmland to further her cricketing ambitions.
Hrishita Basu, backup wicketkeeper
Like many others, it all started with gully cricket for her. The girl from Howrah, Kolkata, is the third player to have come up from the Cricket Association of Bengal's (CAB's) grassroots development programme. Hrishita seized the opportunity after getting a break against New Zealand in November.
Richa Ghosh, wicketkeeper-batter
Hailing from Wriddhiman Saha's town, Richa is a hard-hitting batter. She grew up idolising MS Dhoni. But her father, Manabendra Ghosh, helped hone her power game. She hogged the limelight in India's series against Australia last month with vital knocks of 36 and 26.
Titas Sadhu, pacer
Her family runs an old club, and, as a 10-year-old, would accompany their cricket team as a 'scorer'. One of the final stars, her arrival followed the retirement of the iconic Jhulan Goswami, both hailing from Bengal. She bowls fast, generates bounce and swings it both ways. She tried becoming a sprinter, like her father. She also secured 93 per cent in the 10th board exams only to drop out to pursue cricket.
Sonam Yadav, left-arm spinner
From Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh, the 15-year-old's father, Mukesh Kumar, works in a glass factory. Started by playing with boys and seeing her interest, Kumar enrolled his daughter in an academy. She began as a batter but switched to bowling on the coach's advice.
ALSO READ: Titas Sadhu - The tale of a sprinter and swimmer becoming a World Cup-winning pacer
Mannat Kashyap, left-arm spinner
She is quicker in the air and has an action that is more rhythmic than Sonam. The Patiala girl grew up playing gully cricket with boys before a cousin pushed her to take the sport seriously.
Archana Devi, off-spinning all-rounder
She lost her father to cancer before the start of her cricketing journey. She was born in a low-income family in Ratai Purwa in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district. One day, while searching for a ball hit by Archana, her brother Budhiram died of a snake bite. A cricket career was what her brother wished for Archana.
Parshavi Chopra, leg-spinner
This Bulandshahr-born girl was a skating enthusiast but was also fond of watching cricket. Rejected in her first attempt, she was selected in the state trials a year later. She finished the World Cup as the team's wrecker-in-chief with 11 wickets from six matches, including 4/5 against Sri Lanka.
ALSO READ: 'HAPPY THAT MY DAUGHTER IS A PART OF THAT WIN' - PARSHAVI CHOPRA'S FATHER ON INDW U-19 T20WC TRIUMPH
Falak Naz, seam-bowling all-rounder
She did not get to play any game in the tournament, but in the warm-up match against Australia, the right-arm pacer returned with tidy figures of 0/11 from three overs. Father Nasir Ahmad works as a peon in an Uttar Pradesh (UP) school, while the mother is a homemaker in a one-room house in Katghar, Allahabad.
Hurley Gala, all-rounder
Born in a Gujarati family in Mumbai, Hurley made her senior debut aged 15. Grabbed attention by taking Shafali Verma's and Deepti Sharma's wickets in a domestic match.
Sonia Medhiya, batting all-rounder
From Haryana, she played four matches in the tournament and returned wicket-less, giving 30 runs from five overs.
Shabbam MD, medium pacer
Tall with a high-arm action, the 15-year-old from Visakhapatnam played two matches and bagged one wicket. Her father is in the Navy, and he was also a fast bowler.
(With inputs from PTI)
