More than numbers: The M Shalini effect

I’ve seen a lot of my teammates walk away from the game—most of the time without the slightest warning, without even saying goodbye. I have watched as they faded away into the distance, and each time I have regretted that I/we never got a chance to celebrate their achievements.

Recently, another teammate, one of my dearest friends, chose to step away from the game we love so much. It has still not sunk in. Playing in a Hyderabad team without her will be strange, and I won’t believe it is possible until it actually happens. When I heard the news, I realized that I didn’t want to regret letting her fade off, and that it was time to celebrate a career that has had a huge impact on mine.

To me, Mantravadi Shalini will always be a super star. When I first started playing, she was the senior whom I used to carry extra peanut butter sandwiches for, who was the ‘princess’ of camp because she had the most number of ‘fans’, and who came whizzing in on her TVS Scooty milliseconds before the sessions were due to start.

 We didn’t become instant friends, but I watched in awe as she tore apart bowling attacks with an authority I had never seen before; her crisp cover drives finding the gap no matter how many fielders were placed to stop them. She may not have been the most technically correct, but she batted with flair, and soon became not only one of my, but also my father’s favorite batters!

I remember the first hundred she scored for the state (then Andhra Pradesh) at sub-junior (Under-16) level. We were playing Gujarat, not necessarily one of the strongest teams, but they managed to make early inroads and we were halfway through out batting line-up for not more than 50. Shalini (referred to as Shalu later), who walked in at no.5, assessed the situation calmly and proceeded to hammer the bowlers to all parts of the ground on her way to an unbeaten 115. It was an innings of real character, and for me, one that made her so special. She was captain of the team and had been struggling with the bat, but she never once let the pressure get to her. Granted, things got much easier after 25 overs (we were playing a 35 over match) when the bowlers and fielders got tired and started bowling full tosses, but not once did she let her intensity drop.

It was the first of many knocks where she single-handedly turned the game on its head.

Years later, once the BCCI took charge of women's cricket, Shalu had to reinvent herself from an accomplished middle order player to an opening batter. In a line-up filled with the likes of Diana David, Savita Nirala, Sravanthi Naidu and Mamtha Kanojia she was unable to find a place in the XI, but she worked hard at her skill and fought her way through to soon become the first name on the team list!

I was part of teams where she led from the front to inspire us to unlikely victories. She was a passionate captain-- one who shouted to make her anger and frustration evident, but she had a strange way of getting the best out of everyone. 

I have watched her play some incredible innings, running teams ragged with her terrific strokeplay and rapid running between the wickets. She was the quintessential cricketer—she could bat, bowl and field, and on her day, she could certainly win a game on her own.

One such day was back in 2011 in Ahmedabad. We (South Zone) were playing Central Zone in the final of the NCA Inter-Zonal tournament and needed 175 to win. Having faltered chasing an even smaller target against the same opposition in the previous (league) match, we were determined to make amends, but none more so than Shalu. She batted through the innings negating some early swing, absorbing the pressure of a middle order collapse, and guiding the tail through the last few runs. She finished unbeaten on 82, but to all of us who went charging on to the field when the final runs were scored, her knock was worth so much more.

That innings, deservedly, propelled her to bigger things—a Challenger series, followed by a chance to face the visiting Australian team in 2012 (she was part of the Board President’s XI)—but for some reason, she was unable to kick on.

There is so much more I can say about Shalu, so many more innings I can describe, but if I had to describe her as both a friend and a player I would have to say that she was selfless. She was a team player through and through, and Hyderabad will be poorer without her.

It was not the numbers that made Shalu special, but the spirit she brought to the team. At her best, she played with the freedom that few in the South do. When she got going, there was absolutely no one who could stop her. The quicker, the better—it was all cannon fodder for Hyderabad’s Quick Silver! With the ball, she was highly underestimated. I believe she was a more useful and effective bowler than many 'pure' bowlers. Once she got on a roll, she was pretty much a bowling machine, but unfortunately, most often, it was the ‘getting on a roll’ that was difficult! In the field, there was no one faster. No ball would pass, but if one got through it was 'head down and run hard', just like David Warner!

Hyderabad will miss her, of that I have no doubt, but I am pretty sure I will miss her more. From someone whom I admired from a distance as a little kid, Shalu has become a very, very good friend. She has been there every step of the way, cajoling me on from mid-off, from wicket one (in every format) to now. She was one person I knew I could count on… Someone whom I could have a laugh or a serious chat with at the end of a hard day… She was the teammate who got me… She knew what to say when and how… She pushed me to be better, taught me to believe and made me a team player.

I always thought there would be so much more to her story. Confidence/ belief is a strange thing-- it never matters how many people believe in you, all that counts is how much you believe in yourself. The fact that she got where she did is a huge testament to her belief and wholehearted effort, but I suppose sometimes things just get away from you.

To the captain under whom I started my career, thank you for everything. You are a star, no matter what!