Meghana's 1893 days in the wilderness

(James Allan / Getty Images)

On 20 November 2016, when Meghana Sabbineni walked on to the field for the first time as an international cricketer, she was greeted by a boisterous crowd gathered at the Dr. Gokaraju Liala Gangaaraju ACA Cricket Ground in Mulapadu to cheer for their local hero. When she struck four boundaries on her way to a 16-ball 17 in India’s chase of 138, the crowd roared their appreciation. And when she was dismissed – lbw to Hayley Matthews – the disappointment was palpable.

A little over five years to that day, Meghana was back in her home ground – a little older, much wiser, and far leaner – but this time, she was an international discard, playing in an empty stadium (albeit in front of television cameras) for her place in the Indian team.

***

When Meghana first came into the domestic system, she was seen as an obscenely talented batter, but often missed the spotlight next her equally gifted opening partner V Sneha Deepthi. The pair, both highly rated by then Andhra coach and former India skipper Purnima Rau, made their List-A debuts in their early teens and quickly became key members of Andhra’s senior team. However, at age-group level, it was Meghana who became the more dominant force, often outscoring the more popular members of her cohort – the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya and Harleen Deol.

Therefore, the India call-up in 2016 came as no surprise. Many believed it should/ could have happened earlier, when India hosted Bangladesh back in 2013, but either way, when the day arrived, there was much anticipation around her graduation.

While her performances didn’t set the world on fire, Meghana’s promise was obvious. She was untroubled by the pace of Deandra Dottin – who at the time was at the peak of her bowling powers – or the swing of Shakera Selman. Her front foot play was excellent – that cover drive on the up making an early appearance in her international career – but her wider game had some obvious limitations: she wasn’t the quickest between the sticks, and her back foot technique needed some work.

Left out of the pre-World Cup training camp in 2017, Meghana spent the next five years charting a path back into the Indian side. She identified two key areas of improvement: fitness and consistency.

“I have worked on my fitness from the last five years,” she said after India’s opening game of the LOI series against New Zealand in Queenstown. “That was most important aspect and I think that has helped me a lot to come here again.”

The lost weight saw her speed across the ground and between the wickets improve. Better stamina levels made (big) run-scoring easier as well. Having to wait for an opportunity in a star-studded Railways XI further fueled her fire, and through this time, it was her self belief that kept her going.

“Definitely, I have worked on my batting. I have always been an attacking batter, but I just wanted to consistently score runs in the domestic level so that the selectors see me,” she said.

“I have never actually thought of that selection pressure – it was never there in my mind. So last five years also I have just focussed on myself: how to improve myself, how to become a better player, and I think it helped me.”

***

There were 1,893 days between Meghana’s sixth and seventh internationals. Broken down, that’s 45,432 hours/ 2,725,920 minutes/ 163,555,200 seconds. It was time that the right-hander used well.

Between the dates of 4 December 2016 and 9 February 2022, India played a total of 114 LOIs. During that period, they handed out debuts to nine batters/ batting allrounders, tried 17 different opening combinations, changed coaches five times, reached two World Cup finals and one World Cup semi, conceded the Asia Cup, and ended Australia’s winning streak.

While the women in blue were off trying to conquer the world, Meghana was busy conquering the country. She scored over 3,400 runs in First-Class, List-A, T20 and age-group cricket where she turned out for Andhra, South Zone, Railways, Central Zone and India A (and its Challenger Trophy variants). Her tally comprised 26 scores over 50, including five hundreds – three of which she scored in the last two seasons. In that time, she also captained Andhra, Under-23 South Zone, and India A, and also won two one-day titles with Indian Railways.

When she was overlooked in 2017, Meghana scored a total of 633 runs through the remainder of the season. She followed that up with 648 runs in 2017-18, before clobbering 836 runs the following year. By 2019, Meghana was a consistent member of the India A side, traveling to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and also featuring in the quadrangular series involving Thailand and Bangladesh where she single-handedly took India B to the final with three consecutive fifties.

For Railways, she was the backup opener, watching from the sidelines as Punam Raut and MD Thirushkamini made merry in the middle. When she got her chance, she grabbed it with both hands.

The truncated 2020-21 season was when she really underlined her class with scores of 104, 13, 88, 62, 9 and 53 as Railways regained the title they had lost to Bengal two years ago. She backed that up with a tremendous run in 2021-22 - a journey that culminated in that empty ground in Mulapadu.

***

(James Allan/ Getty Images)

When Meghana walked out to bat in international No. 7 – the one-off T20I against New Zealand in Queenstown – if there were nerves, they didn’t show. She tapped a single to get off the mark before tonking Sophie Devine over her head to pick up her first boundary of the day. It was a shot of utmost authority from a woman who had been out of the reckoning for the longest time. It was a reminder to those around that she’d been forgotten for too long. It was her way of saying she was ready to take every chance that was thrown her way – backup or not, Meghana Sabbineni would become central to India’s batting efforts when the door opened. She was here. She was ready.

She followed up that knock of 37 in the T20I with scores of 4, 49 and 61 in the first three ODIs; her attacking style of play at the top of the order even overshadowing wunderkind Shafali Verma. She drove through the off-side with aplomb, making room to access her favoured area and pouncing on width any time New Zealand dished it up. When they became frustrated by her dominance on the front foot and resorted to the short ball ploy, she giggled at their anger before pummeling a couple of pull shots.

She was no longer just a front foot bully; there was more to her batting than brute force. The kid could score on both sides of the field, and there was no fear holding her back.

That Meghana’s natural game shone through in such a high-stakes environment has been the most pleasing aspect of her batting so far. Of course, self-belief has always been one of her biggest strengths – that innate faith in her talent has kept the engine humming over these last five years.

In the third ODI on Friday (February 18), Meghana notched up her maiden international half-century, leading India’s charge with the bat. She caressed the first ball of the game for a boundary past extra cover, seemingly opening the floodgates with that stroke. What followed was absolute carnage – the kind we have become accustomed to seeing from Verma’s bat.

Meghana ripped New Zealand’s attack apart, peppering the cover boundary, hitting with the swing – over and through the field – and going down the ground when the ball was pitched up. She hit her first ODI six with a powerful off-drive off Hannah Rowe before meting out similar treatment to Devine. The Indian opener took a particular liking to the New Zealand captain, carting her for 19 runs in a single over as she raced to a 33-ball fifty - India’s second fastest in the format.

The fun didn’t last for too much longer as she was dismissed for a 40-ball 61, but Meghana’s chuckle as she celebrated her fifty underlined the kind of day it was. She was out there, in an arena that everyone knew she belonged in and was having the time of her life.

In almost Frankie Mackay style, she was saying, "hey look! I'm here. I'm back, and I should have been playing all these years!"

Those endless hours in the nets and in the gym, those days in the field, and those years of waiting were all behind her. To quote Suzie Bates (albeit out of context), this was “party time”!

No matter what happens over the next couple of games and through the remainder of India’s time in New Zealand, Meghana Sabbineni has laid down a marker – she’s set a standard for herself and for her competitors. She’s got the new-age style of play down to a T. She’s fit, she’s powerful, and she’s confident as hell. And in the years to come, she should be a central figure in India’s batting line up. Whenever that spot does open up, the cheeky grin, the flowing cover drive and an almost embarrassed celebration of a milestone won’t be far off!

#MaggieIsMagic - and now you know why!