Spinner Charani justifying the faith of Mithali Raj in her game
Chandigarh: Apart from stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana, another India cricketer created a flutter with her performance against England in the first T20I at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on Saturday. India's Shree Charani (L) celebrates after taking the wicket of England's Nat Sciver-Brunt in the first T20I against England. (Reuters)
Wearing a blue headband over her pixie haircut, left-arm spinner Shree Charani hogged the spotlight on T20I debut by claiming four wickets for 12 runs to help India hand England their heaviest defeat, by a comprehensive 97 runs. The 20-year-old, who had played five ODIs since her international debut in April, showed her mettle to announce her arrival in the shortest format for India with a bang.
India tried out spinners Shreyanka Patil and Asha Sobhana, and also selected Shuchi Upadhyay for the England tour, but owing to injuries all have been kept away from the action. Taking advantage of the chance that opened up, Charani, who plays for Andhra Pradesh, has been able to make an impression not only with her attitude on the field but also as a spin talent. It was former India skipper Mithali Raj who was impressed with Charani's talent and pushed her hard.
Being the mentor in Andhra Pradesh, Mithali saw Charani's spin bowling and discussed with Andhra Pradesh senior women's team head coach and former India cricketer, Vanitha VR, about the roadmap for the spinner.
'Mithali was impressed with Charani's talent. She had done well playing for the Andhra senior team. She bowled with authority, control and got a good amount of turn as well. Mithali spent a lot of sessions with her and the team to groom them for the season. Mithali told Charani to focus more on the senior team circuit and cut down on U-23 state matches and brought her to Women's Premier League, where she was bought by Delhi Capitals in the auction,' Vanitha said.
Charani was bought by DC for ₹ 55 lakh. She played in the WPL final against winners Mumbai Indians, taking two wickets at an average of 17.75.
At the domestic level, she did well in the Senior Women's Multi-day Challenger Trophy in March, claiming a five-wicket haul against India B and finishing with nine wickets in three matches. She was then included in the India ODI team for a tri-series in Sri Lanka.
'Her progress was gradual and she was picking things at a good pace. She is very serious and focussed. Her father got a bit emotional during the WPL auction when she was bought by DC but she was quick to tell him to relax and not get emotional. She is a two-dimension cricketer and has good batting abilities. Once she won Andhra Pradesh a T20 game against Mumbai by scoring a match-winning knock,' added Vanitha.
Charani comes from Erramalle village in YSR-Kadapa district, in south-central Andhra Pradesh. She has also been included in the ODI team that will play a three-match series after the T20Is. Vanitha is confident Charani could become India's main spinner in the coming years and also play a key role in the upcoming ODI series against Australia, followed by the ICC Women's World Cup, starting on September 30 in India and Sri Lanka.
'We saw the selectors back spinners Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht and Rajeshwari Gayakwad for a long period and they had an impact as well. Charani should also be given more games to gain experience and confidence. She has the ability to surprise batters as she bowls a bit quicker through the air. If groomed well at the international level, she could be India's mainstay spinner in the World Cup team,' said Vanitha. She said that Andhra Pradesh Cricket Association secretary Sana Sathish backed Charani all through last season and also took decisions to upgrade women's cricket in the state.
Charani, who idolises Yuvraj Singh, picked up six wickets in the five matches she played in Sri Lanka in the tri-series.
On Saturday at Trent Bridge, she rounded off her memorable haul by scalping England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt. It was only Sciver-Brunt who showed resistance as England chased a huge 211, hitting 62.
Smriti Mandhana, whose brilliant 62-ball 112 set up the easy win, praised the debutant after the game. 'The spinners really did well to provide breakthroughs, especially Shree Charani. We saw a bit of what she could do with the ball in the last WPL. She was pretty good in WPL, but the way she came up with a fiery performance in the first game was really amazing.'
The second T20 will be played at the County Ground in Bristol on Tuesday.
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