By Ananya Upendran
Over the last couple of years, the India Women’s team has seen more and more teenagers in the mix. The likes of Smriti Mandhana, Devika Vaidya, Deepthi Sharma and, most recently, R Kalpana have all broken into the national team thanks to strong performances at the Under-19 level.
This season’s U-19 tournament promises to be more interesting than in the past. But with the BCCI’s six-year rule, according to which no player can play more than six seasons of U-19 cricket, many of the more established names at that level will be missing this time around. Devika Vaidya (Maharashtra), Sneha More (Hyderabad), Taniya Bhatia (Punjab), Priya Punia (Delhi), all of whom have represented India A, and are still not 19, will miss out for their respective states.
With the Women’s U-19 season set to start in a a few days, Wisden India takes a look at 11 players who have shown promise over the last couple of years and will be ones to look out for.
Deepti Sharma (Uttar Pradesh)
Playing Role: Left-hand top-order batter/ Right-arm offspinner
Deepti Sharma is an allrounder from Uttar Pradesh who bats in the top three and bowls accurate offspin.
Deepti, at 18, has already represented the country in four One-Day Internationals. After scoring an impressive 53 not out, against the South African Women for India A, she was drafted into the one-day squad and made her debut against South Africa in November last year, finishing with figures of 2 for 35. In her most recent ODI against New Zealand, Deepti took two wickets and scored an unbeaten 44 to steer India home in the series decider.
She has been a top performer for UP and Central Zone at the U-19 level for several years. On turning pitches in Guwahati in the 2014-15 Inter-Zone Women’s U-19 two-day championship, Deepti topped the list of wicket-takers, with 21 wickets in four matches, including match figures of 11 for 52 against South Zone.
Sushree Dibyadarshini Pradhan (Orissa)
Playing Role: Right-arm offspinner/ Right-hand batter
Sushree Pradhan, an offspinning allrounder from Orissa, has been steadily rising through the ranks over the last couple of years. In only her second season at senior level, she represented the Senior East Zone Women team, bagging a four-wicket haul in her third match against a strong South Zone batting line-up.
Having been part of the India Green (U-19) team for the 2014 and 2015 Women’s Challenger Trophy, she has shown considerable improvement. In the Inter-Zone Senior Women’s two-day tournament, the allrounder impressed one and all, playing with a maturity beyond her years. She finished as the second highest run-scorer for East Zone with 141 runs in four matches at an average of 47.00, also picking up 10 wickets.
At 17, Pradhan has already been earmarked as “one for the future”. She has represented India A Women on three separate occasions—against Sri Lanka (February 2014), South Africa (November 2014) and New Zealand (June 2015).
Jemimah Rodrigues (Mumbai):
Playing Role: Right-hand top-order batter/ Right-arm offspinner
Barely 15 years old, Jemimah Rodrigues is already in her third season of U-19 cricket. The right-hand top-order batter broke into the Mumbai U-19 team as a 13-year-old and has already made a significant mark. She finished the 2014-15 Inter-State Women’s U-19 One Day competition with 268 runs in eight matches at an average of 38.28, including three half-centuries.
In the 2015 Women’s Challenger Trophy in Mysore, where Rodrigues represented the India Green (U-19) team, she impressed with her strokeplay, including a scintillating straight drive that was reminiscent of a young Sachin Tendulkar.
In the 2015 Inter-Zone U-19 National Cricket Academy (NCA) one-day tournament, she finished as the second highest run scorer—159 runs in four matches, including a highest of 102 not out against North Zone, the only century of the tournament.
Ekta Singh (Uttar Pradesh)
Playing Role: Right-hand top-order batter
Ekta Singh, Uttar Pradesh’s right-hand opening batter, has made steady progress since her U-19 debut in 2012, having a breakthrough year in the 2014-15 season. She scored 305 runs in only six matches, at an average of 61.00, including a century (125) against Vidarbha, finishing as the fourth highest run-getter in the women’s U-19 one-day competition.
Ekta was named in the India Green (U-19) team for the 2015 Challenger Trophy, but only got to play one match against a strong India Red team.
In the 2015 Inter-Zone U-19 NCA one-day tournament, Ekta topped the batting charts with 167 runs in four matches and helped Central Zone clinch the title. Her highest score of 81 came in a tight chase of 209 against a formidable South Zone.
Tejal Hasabnis (Maharashtra)
Playing Role: Right-hand batter/ Right-arm offspinner
Tejal Hasabnis, the batting allrounder from Maharashtra, stormed on to the scene as a powerful batter who could pummel the cricket ball. After a breakthrough performance in the 2013-14 U-19 season when she powered Maharashtra to an unlikely tie in the national final against Assam with an unbeaten 47-ball 51 that included two sixes, Hasabnis was named in the India A two-day team to face South Africa Women in October.
In the 2014-15 season, Hasabnis continued to dominate the U-19 circuit with the bat, scoring 440 runs in seven innings at an average of 62.85 and an impressive strike rate of 84.94, also scoring her first century (158 off 139 balls) against Gujarat.
Hasabnis’s feats meant she was an automatic choice in the India Green (U-19) team for the 2015 Women’s Challenger Trophy in Mysore. In the 2015 Inter-Zone U-19 NCA one-day tournament, she amassed 153 runs in four matches with two half-centuries.
Pooja Vastrakar (Madhya Pradesh)
Playing Role: Right-arm medium pacer
Pooja Vastrakar is a right-arm medium pacer from Madhya Pradesh. At 15, she has impressive skills with the ball and is lightning in the field.
Vastrakar had a rather quiet 2014-15 U-19 season, picking up only eight wickets in seven matches. Her pace and movement, however, caught the eye. She toiled hard iatn the U-19 Inter-Zonal two-day tournament on spin-friendly pitches in Guwahati, picking up 12 wickets in four matches for Central Zone. She was rewarded with a call up to the India Green (U-19) team for the 2015 Women’s Challenger Trophy.
At the Inter-Zone U-19 NCA One Day Tournament held in July, Vastrakar picked up seven wickets in four matches.
Harleen Deol (Himachal Pradesh)
Playing Role: Right-arm offspinner/ Right-hand batter
After playing two seasons for Punjab, Harleen Deol chose to move to Himachal Pradesh, in search of “better opportunities”. The offspinner made full use of the move, breaking into the Himachal Pradesh Senior Women’s team in only her second year there.
In the 2014-15 season, Deol picked up 16 wickets in eight matches at an average of 9.87 in the Inter-State Women’s U-19 one-day tournament. She also chipped in with the bat, finishing in the list of top 15 run-getters in the country with 220 runs in eight games, including a highest of 87 against Jammu and Kashmir.
In the 2015 Inter-Zone U-19 NCA one-day tournament, she picked up nine wickets in four matches for North Zone. She was also selected for the U-19 NCA camp in July.
Maya Sonawane (Maharashtra)
Playing Role: Right-arm legspinner
Maya Sonawane, an unorthodox legspinner from Maharashtra, was the top wicket-taker in the Inter-State U-19 one-day tournament last season, having picked up 23 wickets in nine matches. Sonawane’s best figures of 6 for 18 came against Baroda, in her first match of the season.
In the Inter-Zonal U-19 two-day competition, Sonawane took eight wickets playing for West Zone, including a five-wicket haul against South Zone.
C Jhansi Lakshmi (Andhra)
Playing Role: Right-arm offspinner/ Left-hand batter
Jhansi Lakshmi is an offspinner of much promise from Andhra. She was selected for the India Green (U-19) team for the 2012 Women’s Challenger Trophy after an impressive run in that year’s U-19 tournament where she finished as the top wicket-taker, with 22 wickets in nine matches.
During Andhra’s steady rise as a force to reckon with, Jhansi continued to show improvement. In the 2014-15 Inter-State Women’s Senior one-day competition, Jhansi helped Andhra win the Plate Division championship. She was the highest wicket-taker in the country, bagging 17 wickets in six matches at an average of 9.35.
In the 2015 Inter-Zone Women’s U-19 two-day tournament in spin-friendly conditions in Guwahati, Jhansi took 11 wickets in four matches, including two four-wicket hauls for South Zone. She was also a member of the Senior Women’s South Zone team.
Tanusree Sarkar (Bengal)
Playing Role: Right-hand top-order batter/ Right-arm offspinner
Tanusree Sarkar, a batting allrounder, is an exciting talent from Bengal. Rather short in stature, Sarkar more than makes up for her height with a huge heart. She is a top-order batter, bowls accurate offspin and is a wonderful fielder. Last year, at 16, Sarkar became one of the youngest players to represent India A Women against the touring South Africa Women.
In last year’s 2014-15 Inter-State Women’s U-19 one-day tournament, Sarkar scored 246 runs and took 10 wickets in 10 matches in Bengal’s road to victory. Her most important contributions came in the semifinal against Madhya Pradesh and the final against Karnataka, where she scored two important half-centuries.
D Ramya (Hyderabad)
Playing Role: Right-hand top-order batter
Scrawny though Ramya may seem, the top order batter from Hyderabad is quite in the mould of Rajini Venugopal, the former India Women batter and national selector. Appearances can be deceptive they say, and it is certainly the case with Ramya. Although she may appear rather thin and weak, her powerful drives pierce the field with ease.
Ramya topped the charts as her team’s highest run-scorer in the 2014-15 Inter-State Women’s U-19 one-day tournament with 258 runs in nine matches at 32.25. She was selected to represent the India Green (U-19) team in the 2015 Women’s Challenger Trophy in Mysore.
This article was first published in Wisden India.