Up as a lot as now on: Dec 14, 2025 08:26 pm IST
Vaishnavi Sharma, 19, rises from WPL disappointment to India name-up for T20I sequence in Sri Lanka, showcasing resilience and skill in cricket.
Chandigarh: For Madhya Pradesh left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma, the old few days have felt appreciate a whirlwind as she has swung from deep disappointment to the biggest satisfaction of a cricketer. Having long past unsold at the Ladies’s Premier League (WPL) public sale last month after being on the radar of Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the 19-yr-extinct had barely processed the disappointment when she became as soon as supplied a miles higher prize: a maiden India name-up after being included within the squad for the upcoming T20I sequence in Sri Lanka.
“I became as soon as in spite of the total lot gutted to be unsold within the WPL public sale,” Vaishnavi said. “However so many avid gamers, coaches and seniors reached out and supported me. Within three days, I got my first India name-up. I became as soon as over the moon.” Her atrocious mark within the WPL public sale on November 27 became as soon as ₹10 lakh.
Her resolution, alternatively, isn’t any trip from the blue. Over the past two seasons, Vaishnavi has been a standout performer all the contrivance through U-19, U-23 and senior home tournaments, consistently finishing amongst the wonderful wicket-takers for Madhya Pradesh and Central Zone.
Earlier this yr, she completed a pivotal role in India’s U-19 Ladies’s T20 World Cup triumph in January-February, ending because the match’s leading wicket-taker with 17 scalps in six matches at a miserly financial system of 4.35. Her fine five-for — including a hat-trick towards hosts Malaysia – launched her arrival on the worldwide stage.
“I skilled the enjoyment of winning the U-19 World Cup, and looking at India preserve cease one other world title (ODI World Cup) blew my mind,” she said. “Now that the selectors have shown religion in me, I are trying to make essentially the most of this different and drag away a designate towards Sri Lanka. My dream is to abet India gain one other World Cup.”
Vaishnavi became as soon as piece of the Madhya Pradesh senior assert crew which gained the T20 home trophy last season, and 2025 has been her yr.
After the U-19 World Cup high, Vaishnavi claimed 21 wickets in nine matches for MP and completed the leading wicket-taker of Senior Ladies’s T20 match, although the aspect fell to Maharashtra within the closing. She carried that momentum into the Senior Ladies’s Inter-Zonal T20 trophy where she took 12 wickets in five matches for Central Zone and became as soon as placed 2d on the total list.
Vaishnavi’s upward thrust has been spurred now not appropriate by skill but moreover resilience. Her father, Prof Narender Sharma, recalls the family’s sacrifices at some level of the pandemic. “We supported Vaishnavi since she became as soon as four. Financially, instances had been subtle and we even had to promote our house, but I by no formulation let which have an impact on her cricket. Enrolling her at the Tansen Cricket Academy and the mighty ecosystem supplied by MPCA helped her excel,” he said.
Having modified Radha Yadav within the India squad, Vaishnavi is expected to bolster the trip assault alongside Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma and Shree Charani within the sequence beginning on December 21. With the T20 Ladies’s World Cup in England appropriate seven months away, selectors seem alive to to make investments in younger, match-winning skill.
Many MP females cricketers, including Pooja Vastrakar and Kranti Goud have completed for India and Anushka Sharma and Saumya Tiwari from the assert have moreover been within the reckoning.
So, what is clicking for MP cricket? “With Chandrakant Pandit sir as cricket director, MP cricket has in spite of the total lot benefited. There could be not any off-season for us. We play your total yr and retain successfully being requirements,” said Vaishnavi, who is moreover a useful batter.
Impressed by vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and soaking within the ride of the nationwide camp, Vaishnavi stands making ready to a contemporary chapter.
Many younger avid gamers at the present time look the franchise T20 league route to nationwide consideration and resolution. If Vaishnavi can trace her presence within the impending sequence, it will per chance perhaps well take care of the WPL hurdle.
