CRICKET | Shree Charani looking forward to playing with the legends on the Indian team

Nallapureddy Shree Charani, rising cricket star from Andhra Pradesh, impresses with her bowling skills, earning a spot in Indian team.

Nallapureddy Shree Charani burst onto the Women’s Premier League scene as a relatively unknown entity roped in by Delhi Capitals. In two games — against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians (in the final) — Charani’s ability to control the run flow and attack batters in crucial phases made heads turn.

She continued in the same vein in the recently concluded Senior Women’s Multi-Day Challenger Trophy in Dehradun, finishing with nine wickets from three games. This was enough to earn a call-up to the Indian senior side for the Women’s Tri-Nation ODI tournament against Sri Lanka and South Africa later this month.

“I was feeling proud at getting the call-up. I am looking forward to playing with Harman (skipper Harmanpreet Kaur) di, Smriti (Mandhana) di, Jemi (Jemimah Rodrigues) di. They are legends,” the pacer-turned-left-arm spinner told The Hindu.

Being the first woman from the YSR-Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh to be selected for the Indian cricket team is no mean feat, and the 20-year-old received the news from India regulars Harleen Deol and Yastika Bhatia during the Multi-Day Challenger.

Charani’s father tried to enroll her in multiple sports, but she always found herself drawn to cricket.

“My dad first put me into badminton when I was in class six. I would play there, come home and immediately play cricket. Even when I played kho kho in school, I would go early to play cricket before going to play kho kho. I was constantly into cricket only.”

Charani’s uncle, Kishore Kumar Reddy, had a huge hand in her taking to the sport, often training for long hours with his niece.