Kranti — the new revolution in Indian women’s cricket

Some ‘life coming full circle’ stories are incredibly special.

Kranti Goud made her debut at the R. Premadasa Stadium here in May, in the final of a Tri-Series against Sri Lanka, which also featured South Africa. She went wicketless but showed promise.

Five months later, the 22-year-old now has 18 ODI wickets in just nine games, has earned the faith of the think tank over other experienced players, and has also shown courage with the bat. All this against quality opponents like England and Australia.

She once again put on a show with a match-winning performance against Pakistan in the Women’s ODI World Cup at the same venue where she debuted.

Her village – Ghuwara in Madhya Pradesh – set up a screen on the ground she used to play in as a kid to watch along as Kranti took three crucial wickets (Sadaf Shamas, Aliya Riaz and Natalia Pervaiz) to derail Pakistan’s chase and set up India’s 88-run triumph.

“When I came in for my second spell, the captain wanted to remove the slip because the ball was old. I insisted on keeping the slip as I had a feeling I could draw out a wicket. That’s exactly what happened. I had that faith,” she said.

Kranti starred with the bat too, smacking two quick boundaries to maintain the tempo for Richa Ghosh, who helped India plump its score up to 247.

“Richa was telling me that if the ball is in my range, I should go for it or at least rotate strike with a single. Only a few overs were left, but they kept bowling in my zone, so I hit them for four. Even the ball I got out to, I thought I could send it to the fence. I hope I can keep contributing with the bat in future matches too,” she said with a wide smile.