Chandigarh girl Kashvee to play for Trailblazers in T20 Challenge
Deepankar Sharda
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 11
Right-arm pacer Kashvee Gautam (17), who had a dream run earlier this February when she claimed all 10 wickets against Andhra Pradesh in a match of Women’s U-19 One-day Trophy Plate Group, has been called by the BCCI to play for Trailblazers in the Women’s T20 Challenge.
Kashvee will be the first teenager from the city to play in this championship. International wicketkeeper and local girl Taniya Bhatia (22) will be playing with Supernovas and Mohali’s Harleen Deol (22) will be representing Trailblazers in the championship. Taniya and Harleen, both international players, are already part of the BCCI’s contractual system.
The Indian cricket board has decided to host the third edition of the Women’s T20 Challenge in the United Arab Emirates from November 4 to 9. The women cricketers will assemble in Mumbai on October 13 and will be under quarantine for more than a week before flying out to the UAE for the championship.
The players are likely to leave for the UAE on October 22 and they will be tested multiple times during their quarantine period.
Her 10-wicket haul
In February, Kashvee picked up a hat-trick as well as she became the first Indian cricketer, as per available records, to pick all 10 wickets in a limited-overs match.
In the match played at KSRM College Ground in Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh), she claimed 10 wickets for 12 runs off 29 balls, wrapping up the Arunachal Pradesh innings at 25 runs. Chandigarh won the match by 161 runs.
“Playing in the Women’s T20 Challenge will be a moment to gain vast experience for me. It’s been almost two weeks that I have started reworking on my bowling attack. During the lockdown period, I was concentrating more on gaining physical fitness. I am looking ahead to get a chance for featuring in the playing squad and showcasing my talent,” said Kashvee.
She will be sharing the pitch with the likes of Jhulan Goswami and Smriti Mandhana. In the U-23 One-day Trophy, she picked up 31 wickets in the league stage while in the T20 format, she claimed 14 wickets and scored 160 runs for Chandigarh. “She is a natural talent and if she performs well in this trophy, it will be a big breakthrough for her.
She is training hard and this news has come as a morale booster for her,” said coach Nagesh Gupta.
Wonderful Taniya
Taniya, who is already on BCCI’s roster, says she is happy that cricket is back again. “The most important thing is that cricket is back again. This event is important considering the ODI World Cup to be held in February-March (2021),” she says. “We had a few Challenger matches under lights in 2018, and it was exciting to play amid an audience of 15,000. The fans have started recognising cricketers and I am happy that the board has finally decided to conduct the T20 Challenge,” said Taniya. “As I said, the only things matter is the return of cricket. In these tough times when everything has almost come to a standstill, the board has tried to give us a ray of hope. I focussed on improving physical fitness during the lockdown period, but now eyeing for solo practice hours — especially nets.”
