Shree Charani: The Unlikely Hero of India's Women's World Cup Campaign

Shree Charani (PTI Photo)HYDERABAD: Apart fromJemimah Rodrigues, who played a stellar role in dethroning defending champions Australia in the World Cup semifinals, India has another big hero in Shree Charani, the 21-year-old who is playing her first World Cup after making her international debut this April.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel.SUBSCRIBE NOW!Throughout India’s World Cup campaign, Charani has displayed great control over her craft and shown great maturity to not be overawed by the situation or opposition. The left-arm orthodox spinner is fifth in the bowlers’ rankings having picked up 13 wickets so far — the second-best Indian afterDeepti Sharma(17 wkts).Jemimah Rodrigues after India reach Women's World Cup final: 'Was going through a lot of anxiety'On Thursday, what made her performance impressive was how she held her own when the Australians threatened to cut loose.On a batting paradise, when all the Indian bowlers were taken to the cleaners — Deepti and Radha Yadav’s economy rates read of 7.42 and 8.25, respectively — Charani’s repertoire came into play during her controlled spell of 10-0-49-2, which put the brakes on Australia’s scoring.Even in the league match against Australia in Vizag, Charani was the best on the park with 10-1-41-3 which included the wickets of Alyssa Healy, Phoebe Litchfield and Sutherland.The Australian skipper was all praise for the young tweaker.To think that cricket wasn’t Charani’s first love. It was not until she turned 16 that she decided to give cricket a serious thought. Hailing from a small village — Yerramala Palle in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh — Charani tried her hand at badminton, kabaddi and athletics. She was good at athletics too and briefly trained in Hyderabad.Thanks to her uncle Kishore Kumar Reddy, who was a part-time cricketer at the Rayalseema Thermal Power Station (RTPC), she turned to the game. With cricket being a team sport, Charani’s father Chandrasekhar Reddy was not keen on her decision. “When I went and told my mother that I wanted to play cricket, she supported me immediately. But it took one year to convince my father,” Charani toldbcci.tv.“When I started out, my father had several loans but he didn’t let that affect me. I am here because of their support. Though my uncle trained me to be a fast bowler, I wasn’t getting wickets. I tried my hand at spin. It worked,” she added.Catch Lovlina Borgohain's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 5. Watch Here