From the diary of a cricketer

In the now, a year often feels like an eternity. But when you look back, it feels like it went in a flash. This past year has been a bit like that for me. I struggled to get through it, but now, I don't quite recollect why. 12 months ago, to this day, the  first issue  of the  Women's CricZone Magazine  was released. While I was not officially part of the organisation, having scrambled to help put together the first issue, I felt very much a key member of the team. A month earlier, when Yash Lahoti, CEO and co-founder of the organisation, had called to ask whether I was willing to take up the task of putting together the magazine, I knew it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up. As a child, when I first started following women's cricket - cue the pictures of Mithali Raj in her floppy hat grinding England to the ground on her way to 214 - I knew that all I wanted to do was make sure people knew the women's team was playing. I couldn't quite fathom w

(Originally published on June 22, 2016 on the Wisden India website). It’s one thing to read about players’ insecurities and listen to their stories, but it’s quite another to actually see their struggles, however briefly, in person.   I met Mignon du Preez once. For precisely 22 minutes. Despite South Africa’s disappointing campaign in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2016, she was smiling, upbeat and more than willing to have a chat. Never in my wildest dreams did I think meeting her would have a big impact on me. After all, since when have medium pacers idolised batters?   It’s funny how, sometimes, the shortest interactions can have the deepest effects on people. For me, that moment came on March 29, 2016 at around 4pm at a hotel in Bangalore. I was there to interview du Preez, the then South African captain, a day after her team’s last league match against Sri Lanka Women in the tournament.   It was one of my first interviews as a journalist with an international c