Another player who ably paired with Captain Mithali Raj and led India to the semi-final of the ICC Women’s World Cup is Veda Krishnamurthy. Her quick-fired 70 from 45 balls crushed New Zealand by 186 runs and guided India to a historic win.
Here are few things to know about the right-handed batsman and right-arm leg-break bowler from Karnataka:
- The July 15 match was important for Veda as she collected her first half-century in 14 ODIs.
- Veda was just 18 years old -- youngest in the team -- when she debuted against England in 2011, and batted a powerful half-century.
- She was enthusiastic about bat and ball since 4-year-old as she tagged along with her brother and his gang to routine games in the evenings.
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- The youngest of four siblings, Veda’s parents had plans for her non-cricketing career and to make her an IAS or IPS officer. Despite having a strong interest in cricket, to boost self-confidence and physical fitness, she was enrolled in a martial arts class as a child. At the age of 12, she earned a double black belt, which eventually helped her stint in cricket.
- Veda faced trouble to pursue her career in cricket initially. Her family lived in Kadur, far from Bengaluru where her father owned a cable operating business. The town lacked basic cricketing facilities, and being a girl, pursuing a sport in a small town was even tougher.
- When she was 12 she learnt about a cricket academy in Bengaluru.Veda insisted to her father to enrol her there.
"Success got to my head”, she told Cricbuzz. “I was 18 when I played for India and scored a fifty against England on debut. I feel I got carried away.”
- After her first triumph, due to her performance drop, she was sent off to domestic cricket. She again joined the Karnataka Institute of Cricket where she had started as a 12-year-old.
- She persistently played for Indian Railways, and her job in Delhi with Western Railways led her to push out of her comfort zone.
"I, as a person, as a player, changed drastically after that incident. Those years taught me a lot. I played for a different team rather than my state and that experience gave me strength. I've learnt my lessons the hard way."
- It was then in 2005, when Irfan Siat, chief coach at KIOC, spotted a young girl with grit and determination at his academy.
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- Veda then started training in Bengaluru with the KIOC boy's teams, and in a few years, she bagged a place in the Karnataka senior team.
- The power-packed cricket returned to the Indian team in 2015, with a knock of 63, encountering a strong New Zealand.
- Veda looks up to Suresh Raina's batting and fielding
- She has had only seven ODI knocks in 2017. She is playing her first World Cup.
Feature Image Credit: Cricbuzz
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