A fighter—that is how everyone who knows Radha Yadav, the 19-year-old left-arm spinner, hailed as a the bowling all-rounder in the Indian women's team, describes her.
The youngster, who made her debut for senior Indian team in 2018, is currently playing her second ICC Women's T20 World Cup and is enjoying every bit of chance coming her way. She returned her career best figures of 4-23 in India's last group match against Sri Lanka on Saturday morning. Before that, in the match against New Zealand, she hit a 9 ball 14 to take India past 130 and later took one wicket and two catches to showcase her true all-round capabilities. The match against Sri Lanka was only her second in this World Cup as she was not part of the playing XI in the previous matches against Australia and Bangladesh.
Back in Baroda, her childhood coach Praful Naik is a happy man today, watching her perform. He, however, is not sitting back, basking in the accomplishments. His job during this world cup has been to calm a restless Yadav as she waited for her turn to play in the tournament. Once she get did her turn, he kept reminding her to completely and carefully follow the instructions of the team management and coaching staff to execute her role to perfection. "She has a lot of ability, but was only waiting for a chance to display it. She can bat well, bowl and field well. Now I know she is anxious to bat more too, but there are other batters who are doing the job mostly before her. I told her to concentrate on her bowling right now, rest too shall fall in place."
Naik is particularly satisfied that his ward's wickets include those of prized catches like Danielle Wyatt and other top batters in the opposition.
Yadav's story too is about fighting odds. She hails from a lower middle class family—her father came from Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai in search of a better life. He sold milk, and the family lived in a small 225sqft room in Kandivali. The means were limited. As a kid, inspired by watching the men in blue lift the coveted ICC Men's World Cup in Mumbai, she took to cricket like duck takes to water. But her father could not provide her the means to go for practice.
Naik, a cricket coach who lived nearby, realised her potential while watching her play tennis ball cricket with the boys in the apartment complex she stayed in. The journey of Yadav the cricketer started from there.
"The school she played had no cricket team. So I told her father that I would help her join a school where there was a girl's team. He father didn't have the means, but I told him she is my responsibility. I asked her if she wants to play seriously, and she said 'yes'. After I spoke to her parents, I made her join
Our Lady of Remedy high school. This is where she first held a season ball in her hands," said Naik.
“I had told her father when I took her under my wings that I would either make her play for India or ensure she gets a job with Railways while playing the sport."
Naik supported Yadav's dreams in every way, including buying her kits. He gave her his daughter's shoes and clothes. While her father was trying to ensure two meals a day for his wife and children, Naik would even ensure she had a proper diet at his house.
"The best thing about her from the very beginning is her aggression and her hard work. She wants to contribute in every way to the team's cause. She likes winning. As a kid one would find her hauling up boys by their collar, but its a controlled aggression she showcases now!" Yadav has displaced the more experienced Ekta Bisht as the left-arm spin option in the Indian team.
She started off initially as medium pacer, but Naik suggested she bowl slow instead, and so she decided to switch to left-arm orthodox. “I used to advice her to bowl stump to stump in school, but while that works on that level it is not the case at the top level. Now she has learnt to control her line and vary her length. One can see the maturity coming in her bowling.”
Yadav's gradual elevation to the senior level, and her sacrifices have finally borne fruit. Playing domestic cricket gives her a fee of around Rs. 12-15000 per match, add an annual BCCI central contract that first started with Rs.10 lakh and is currently Rs.30 lakh, cricket has indeed changed her and her family's life. With her first earnings, she bought her father a proper shop. Now she is looking to move the entire family to Baroda where she is buying a flat.
"More than cricket, what I have tried to imbibe in her is that never sit on your achievements. You have girls nudging on your toes and never think bad for other players. It is important to be a good human being more than being just a good cricketer," said Naik.
