Rare talent Kranti needs to be nurtured

Kranti Gaud’s rise has been as fast as some of the balls she sent down in the historic women’s Test at Lord’s. No fast bowler for a long while has made as big an impact in Indian women’s cricket in as little time as the 22-year-old.

She is a rare talent. A pacer of quality that India has been in search of, especially at times when Renuka Singh has been unavailable because of injuries.

Harmanpreet Kaur was absolutely right when she told Kranti last year in England, “We have been dying for a fast bowler like you.” The Indian captain said that after the young seamer’s spell of six for 52 at Chester-le-Street helped the Women in Blue win the ODI series.

Not many seamers since the remarkable Jhulan Goswami have promised as much as Kranti. Renuka is a magnificent swing bowler no doubt, but the 30-year-old has been troubled by injuries.

If that show with the white ball in England forced the world to take a close look at Kranti, a year later, in the same country, she has shown how far she has travelled as a bowler, this time with a red cherry in her hand. Her spell in England’s first innings was sensational, as she destroyed the strong England batting line-up with her pace and the relentless attack on the stumps.

That spell (five for 37) was certainly worthy of being the reason to make it to the famous honours board at Lord’s. Kranti was understandably proud of becoming the first woman to make it as a Test player.

Kranti was able to put the pressure on the England batting also in the second innings, in which she picked up two wickets. She was, not surprisingly, named the Player-of-the-Match.

It is, of course, early days yet in international cricket for the girl from the small Madhya Pradesh town of Ghuwara. She certainly has the skillset to serve India for long. And she needs to be taken care of. Pace bowling is such a demanding job.