3 weeks ago
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When the auction for the inaugural T20 Mumbai League’s women’s contention got underway, 16-year-old Ira Jadhav was 983 kilometres distant astatine a BCCI U-19 camp. When the gavel came down, Ira emerged arsenic the apical buy, going to Akash Tigers for ₹10 lakh.
“I learned my value. I americium truthful excited for this tourney and astir the accidental to play astatine a venue similar the Wankhede,” Ira told The Hindu. “When the women’s league was announced, we were each precise excited.”
Sport was ever a portion of Ira’s life; her mother, Shilpa, was a State-level athlete, portion her father, Sachin, played tennis-ball cricket. She joined Dilip Vengsarkar’s Varrock Academy successful Pune arsenic a pacer, but erstwhile the COVID-19 pandemic struck, grooming moved to her terrace. Ira’s begetter acceptable up nets and bowled to her; she picked up the bat and didn’t look back. “I similar smashing bowlers implicit bowling,” she quipped. “My begetter was my archetypal dedicated coach. He conscionable watched YouTube videos and taught me. We are some learning astatine the aforesaid time. I americium present due to the fact that of him.”
Ira made a splash past play erstwhile she became the archetypal triple centurion successful BCCI’s U-19 women’s one-day tournament. She was aboriginal honoured with the Jagmohan Dalmiya Trophy for the Best Woman Cricketer (Domestic).
She is simply a pupil of Shardashram Vidyamandir wherever the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli studied.
“I’ve ne'er worked connected my six-hitting abilities arsenic such. The play aft [the camp], I conscionable picked it up, and it’s becoming my strength. I similar stepping out, utilizing my feet. My strengths are successful the guardant ‘V’, but I privation to enactment connected my backward ‘V’ arsenic well.”
