Hyderabad: The girls part of India's Under-19 Women's World Cup win in South Africa have answered their critics in style by winning at the biggest stage of international cricket. India beat England by seven wickets in the ICC Under-19 world cup at Senwes Park, Potchefstroom on January 29. The family of Gongadi Trisha from Bhadrachalam in Telangana, who excelled with the bat in the finale, had to face questions like why she being a girl should opt for sports as a career.
The budding Indian women's cricketer silenced her critics by playing a key role in India's World Cup win against England. Trisha's knock of 24 off 29 balls was crucial in India's win. Trisha's father Rami Reddy, who has been a national hockey player, did not let his struggles come in way of her passion for cricket. She did not disappoint her father and played an important in the team's victory.
Likewise, Shabnum, the pacer from Visakhapatnam, a part of India's world cup winning squad, too, idolises her father, Mohammed Shakeel, a naval officer and also a cricketer. Inspired by her father, Shabnam chose cricket at the age of eight. She stepped in as a batter and became a pacer. Her sister is also a cricketer. While both the girls were playing, their father Shakeel was discouraged by people around. But Shabnum's selection in the under-19 World Cup squad has silenced the critics. Shabnum starts her practice starts at 4.45 in the morning. As a result of her hard work, she got a chance in the World Cup team.
Shweta Sahrawat, the top scorer in the World Cup with 297 runs says that when she steps on the field, her focus is on the game. ''I think about the rest after the game is over." Shweta, who started playing cricket at the age of eight, took the sport as her career only after watching the 2016 India-Pakistan World Cup match. Initially, she played multiple sports like volleyball and badminton. Since 2016, she started practising seriously and earned a place in the Delhi team. She always had father Sanjay's support. Shweta, who wanted to make her father proud, has achieved this by being the under-19 vice-captain of the World Cup winning team.
Also read: BCCI, Sachin Tendulkar to felicitate World Cup-winning U19 team on February 1
Soppadandi Yasashree is another girl, who was a part of the world cup winning team. Yasashree, who hit the ball at the age of 13 in an inter-school tournament, aims to become the best pacer. Yashshree was trained in basketball, swimming and karate. But, her focus was always on cricket. Yasashree has mastered fast bowling in a short time. She also became the captain of the Hyderabad Under-19 team. Currently, studying degree second year was accidentally joined the team in place of Hurley Gala, who was injured.
The story of Archana Devi from Rathai Purva village in Uttar Pradesh, who played a crucial role in the World Cup final against England by taking two important wickets, have to fight against all odds. Archana's mother Savitri, whose husband passed away due to cancer, had to face taunts from the people over her decision to allow Archana to play cricket.
A few years ago, Archana's youngest brother died of a snake bite. Braving all the odds, Archana's mother Savitri decided to fulfil her daughter's cricket dream. Archana also played hard to uphold her mother's trust. Savitri admitted Archana at a boarding school which is 20 km from her native place to avoid the disturbances. With the recommendation of the coach Poonam Gupta, Archana was allowed to train with Kapil Pandey (Kuldeep Yadav's coach) in Kanpur. She excelled in her training. In the World Cup, she took eight wickets in seven matches.
