“In case you search for ‘Anushka Sharma + cricket’ in your serps, you’re going to need to scroll a good quantity until you discover the one you’re searching for. A number of performances like this and that gained’t be a difficulty,” Charles Dagnall quipped on commentary through the UP Warriorz vs Gujarat Giants WPL fixture on the D.Y. Patil Stadium.
The 22-year-old’s chic strokeplay and confidence have been on present in a helpful 44-run knock from 30 deliveries on WPL debut.
Taking Beth Mooney’s place within the center alongside veteran Sophie Devine, Anushka broke free when she obtained down on one knee and smacked Asha Sobhana for 4 behind sq.. Nevertheless, it was the link-up with skipper Ashleigh Gardner and their essential 103-run stand that arrange the Giants for his or her highest-ever WPL whole of 207.
“To be sincere, I used to be somewhat nervous. Sorted itself out once I performed two to 3 balls,” she advised broadcasters through the mid-innings break.
Anushka used her crease and stepped again to permit herself time to ship the ball to the fence. Her smack over Kranti Gaud’s head for 4, completely different from an identical strike from Devine early on, solely in distance, was significantly eye-catching. Wanting steadily forward for a half century on debut, the strategic timeout broke momentum, with Anushka holing out to Harleen Deol off Deandra Dottin’s bowling within the second over put up resumption.
Making heads flip
The all-rounder’s exploits come as no shock given her latest run within the home circuit.
She struck a 58-ball 80 for Central Zone within the Senior Girls’s Interzonal Trophy—ending with 155 runs from 5 video games—adopted by a 207-run within the Senior Girls’s T20 Trophy. She was the second-highest run-scorer within the Madhya Pradesh Girls’s League: 93 runs in 4 matches for Bundelkhand Bulls and in addition made her case for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and UP Warriorz in pre-auction trials.
Anushka turns into the newest export from Madhya Pradesh, a state with a historical past of manufacturing astute cricketers like Sandhya Agarwal, Pooja Vastrakar, and, most not too long ago, Vaishnavi Sharma.
“Cricket has all the time been good in MP, be it for the boys or ladies,” Anushka advised Sportstar forward of the season.
“However ever since Chandrakant Pandit took over, he has groomed gamers fairly a bit. He’s seen what the energy of each particular person participant is and has assigned roles accordingly. He examines how we will refine our strengths and what we have to develop. He prioritises workforce bonding actions. The girls and boys apply in a blended group from 9 a.m. to five p.m. each day, throughout 4 to 5 classes.
“We additionally had classes on tips on how to enhance our communication expertise and have been educated in public talking and classes within the library. He appears at what total qualities a person cricketer ought to have and appears to tick all these packing containers.
Pandit can be identified for his no-compromise method to self-discipline. Anushka agrees with an enormous grin on her face.
“Ever since he got here, gamers have grow to be very disciplined. Earlier, we used to singularly take into consideration profitable, however by no means about tips on how to win. What sort of preparation do we have to get there? So this purpose setting and execution is one thing we’ve improved on below him.”
From gully to the gallery
A lot earlier than she discovered herself in Pandit’s care, cricket for Anushka was about enjoying along with her brother Ayush. An enormous Sachin Tendulkar fan, he wanted a bowler to practise his photographs on, and there started her tryst with bowling, initially as a medium pacer.
“I favored enjoying cricket, however I didn’t initially have a lot curiosity. Once I was round 5, my brother taught me to bowl tempo so he might bat. I favored batting extra, however the bats weren’t of my dimension. You keep in mind the picket bats we wash garments with? That match me so I performed with that earlier than my father finally obtained me a plastic bat after which a picket one. I performed correct cricket first on the U-16 degree. I gave trials and obtained chosen. I used to be the most effective all-rounder there. I then entered the Central Zone facet and completed with the most effective all-round efficiency there, too. That helped me break into the U-19s.”
And he or she hasn’t appeared again since.
Regardless of often prioritising educational brilliance—Ayush graduated from IIT Bombay and works as an information scientist, as do the others in her joint household at dwelling—her people by no means pressured her to tread the identical path.
She was allowed to personal her selections, proper from the game she picked to her preferences inside it.
“Itni si shareer hai mera, 2-3 ball dalne mein kandhe mein dard hota tha (I’m fairly skinny, so bowling tempo was a pressure on my shoulders),” Anushka remembered as she defined her swap from medium tempo to off-spin. However no such excuse works with the bat in an age the place muscling the ball lengthy is the mandate.
“Once I was youthful, I used to be skinny and didn’t have the facility to get the ball previous the rope. I used to be and all the time have been a superb timer of the ball. Step by step, with the calls for of the sport altering, I’ve labored on my energy sport as properly.”
Classes on the gymnasium, beginning with mild weights, grew to become a staple in Anushka’s routine from the age of 15. However she didn’t but know tips on how to complement that with correct vitamin. Her coach, Shreyanshi Singh, then guided her by it.
Anushka, by the way an enormous Virat Kohli fan, watched his exploits on TV religiously. It solely bolstered her drive to stick with the game and make a reputation for herself in it.
Additionally learn | Gujarat Giants staves off Litchfield resistance to beat UP Warriorz by 10 runs
In the direction of that finish, the household thought-about a transfer to Indore, however nothing clicked. Their sights then turned to a Authorities facility in Shivpuri close to Gwalior, the Shrimant Madhav Rao Scindia Cricket Academy, the place famend coach Arun Singh operated. His document of manufacturing Ranji Trophy gamers and even a number of achieved ladies gamers made the transfer straightforward on Anushka and her household.
Singh has been a tricky buyer too, a lot to Anushka’s delight.
“Within the final yr, I’ve labored on my energy hitting much more. There’s a large hole between home and India degree and the nationwide facet solely accommodates solely 15 gamers. I needed to have the ability to design my sport accordingly. I targeted on energy hitting, choosing gaps and vary hitting. Over two classes, I generally smacked 500–600 balls to get all this polished in Shivpuri below Arun sir.”
MI gamers Sanskriti Gupta and Rahila Firdaus additionally prepare alongside her below Singh.
Anushka Sharma, by the way an enormous Virat Kohli fan, watched his exploits on TV religiously. It solely bolstered her drive to stick with the game and make a reputation for herself in it.
| Photograph Credit score:
PTI
Anushka Sharma, by the way an enormous Virat Kohli fan, watched his exploits on TV religiously. It solely bolstered her drive to stick with the game and make a reputation for herself in it.
| Photograph Credit score:
PTI
The grind
A number of months in the past, Anushka had simply gotten completed with a Senior Girls’s T20 Trophy fixture in Chandigarh when the public sale started. The workforce had their eyes pasted on proceedings on the bus journey again to the lodge, which was a reasonably lengthy commute.
“I stored ready for my identify to pop up, nevertheless it by no means did. I felt a bit dissatisfied however made peace with it and put my telephone away. However then, I couldn’t resist and logged on once more, and I noticed my identify come up. By no means in my desires did I anticipate curiosity from three groups and for me to get picked,” she gushed.
Her members of the family have been collectively again dwelling. Her brother had simply gotten married a number of days prior. When the gavel got here down on her acquisition, media individuals flooded their residence. She nonetheless remembers her father’s proud face as he spoke of her and confirmed off her cups and medals.
One can think about her people beaming with pleasure as she staked her declare to stardom with a relaxed and funky efficiency alongside Gardner, a participant she was most excited to spend time round when she realized of her choice to the facet.
“She is such a expertise. To spend outing within the center…she retains it easy and for a younger participant, to be courageous sufficient to try this, superb to be on the different finish,” Gardner mentioned in reward of the teenager.
Coach Michael Klinger went a step additional within the post-match chat with reporters.
“Anushka, I don’t wish to make an enormous assertion however she’s going to be enjoying for India.
“She’s obtained time within the crease, she’s timing the ball fantastically. She will hit each by the sphere and over the sphere. She bowls rather well too, however didn’t get a glance in right now. She’s actually good within the area, which is why three groups bid for her within the public sale. We thought she’d go below the radar and recognized her. Folks in India clearly know what a high-quality participant she is. From what I’ve seen up to now in a really brief time, she’s obtained a protracted profession forward of her.”
From rethinking her path in cricket after a lean home season a number of years in the past to hogging the headlines within the workforce studded with worldwide biggies, Anushka has come a great distance. The thrilling factor, for her and for Indian cricket, is that she’s simply getting began.
Revealed on Jan 11, 2026