2 days ago
Mohali girl gets call-up for maiden women's ODI World Cup: ‘Her dream to play for India'
On Tuesday afternoon, when his daughter 24-year-old Amanjot Kaur was named in the Indian women's cricket team for the ICC Women's ODI World Cup to be played from September 30 in India, 53-year-old Bhupinder Singh was monitoring the carpenting work at one of the sites in Mohali. Singh, who has been a carpentering contractor and manages carpentering in Mohali, would call up his family in Mohali about Kaur's inclusion in the Indian team for her maiden World Cup in India colours and would remember the days when he would take a young Amanjot to Chandigarh from their Mohali residence on his scooter for training.
'Right from the day we put her in cricket training, Amanjot has dreamt about playing the World Cup for India one day. Since 2016, it has been her dream to play for India in a World Cup and this call-up is a special feeling for her as well as the whole family. When I would take her on my scooter to Chandigarh for her training from our Mohali home, Amanjot would always tell me, 'Papa ji, I will make India proud one day'. I am sure she will give her best and we will pray that India wins the World Cup,' Singh told The Indian Express.
It was in 2016 that a young Amanjot would be enrolled under coach Nagesh Gupta at the Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 32. While a young Amanjot would often play with boys in the neighbourhood in Phase V, Mohali, it was the advice of an elder that saw her father getting her enrolled under Gupta. Playing for UTCA, Amanjot would score 370 runs in the BCCI Senior Women's One Day Trophy in 2019-2020 season before amassing more than 450 runs in the BCCI U-23 One Day Tournament the same season. Amanjot would also score 184 runs and take ten wickets in the BCCI U-23 T20 Trophy in 2020. It was followed by her being elected for India A side and the Mohali youngster would make her way into the Indian women's T20I team in 2023 making her debut against South Africa in the tri-series in England and bagging the player of the match trophy with a knock of 41 runs. The same year saw Amanjot being picked up by Mumbai Indians for Rs 50 lakh for the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) followed by her making her women's ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2023. 'When I put her in cricket, all I thought was how to provide the best training for her. It also meant that there were days when I had to make some sacrifices and allocate finances meant for other expenses towards her training too. It was tough for us as a family but I always thought to support her dream, come what may. Sometimes, I would do extra hours in my work so that I could manage her expenses. When she made her India debut in 2023, it was an emotional day for all of us including my wife Ranjeet Kaur and her siblings Kamaljot Kaur and Gurkirpal Singh,' remembers Singh.
While Kaur would play in the 2023 WPL and 2024 WPL editions, where her performance was mediocre, 2024 would see her being sidelined from the sport for more than six months due to a back stress fracture and a hand ligament injury. The all-rounder would make a return to cricket after a gap of eight months last year and score 128 runs and take five wickets in this year's WPL including a knock of 34 runs off 27 balls and a three-wicket haul in Mumbai Indians' win over RCB. Kaur, who has so far played in nine women's ODIs scoring 98 runs and taking 13 wickets apart from playing in 16 Women's T20Is scoring 164 runs and taking seven wickets, scored her maiden international half-century with a knock of 63 runs in the second T20I against England at Bristol last month. She also claimed one wicket in the match, which India won by 24 runs. Gupta, who is a BCCI Level 2 coach, remembers the tough time for Kaur during the injury. 'When she joined training under me, I was impressed by her willpower and the willingness to give her best on the field. That's one thing which has helped her throughout her career. When she suffered the injury last year, she would discuss her bowling and batting techniques over phone with me and never thought that she could not make a comeback. We have been working on her off-cutters as well her yorkers apart from her batting against spinners in recent months and it will come handy for her in the World Cup in India,' says Gupta.
