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Agra’s Deepti Yadav and Poonam Shamra are inspiring young girls in Agra to take up cricket. “In 1995, I saw only one woman training in Agra's stadium. Today, there are at least 150 girls training across different centres,” says Manoj Kashwaha, Poonam’s coach.
They are, however, not the only women cricketers that Agra has produced. Former cricketers Hemlata Kala and Preeti Dimri started the revolution. “Hemlata Kala is the pioneer. She sowed the first seed of women’s cricket in Agra. At present, she is the chairperson of BCCI selection committee,” says Manoj.
Hemlata is pivotal in inspiring Deepti and Poonam. Poonam was her neighbour. Seeing her potential, Hemlata convinced her mother to let her play. She also spotted Deepti, when she was only nine, in Eklavya stadium, hitting a single wicket with her ball. “She told me if Deepti trained, she would go on to play for India one day, and today she is in the Indian team,” says Sumit Sharma, Deepti’s brother.
Sumit, who runs Star Next Cricket Academy in Agra, added that after the 2017 World Cup, many young girls joined his academy. Many girls come from far-off places, rent a room in his academy and train.
Deepti’s coach, Vipin Awasthi, told The Quint that in 2013, when Deepti started training under him, there were only six or seven girls. Today, he is training more than 30.
Last year, the Indian team reached the finals in the World Cup. They lost to England narrowly by nine runs. In the ongoing T20I, India is meeting England once again in the semi-finals. The squad all set for their English revenge.
Deepti is in a great form. In the last four games, she has taken eight wickets. Both Deepti and Poonam’s families are hopeful. They are watching each and every match and keeping tabs on every update.
We wish the girls the very best!
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