Team India is all set to play the semifinals of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup on 5th March and it will be a delight to see the team in action after the match against Sri Lanka.
The match against Sri Lanka was rather crucial for the Indian team to grab a spot in the semis and Indian bowlers did their job perfectly.
Radha Yadav, a left-arm bowling all-rounder in the team, grabbed 4 wickets and provided the Indian team with the necessary breakthroughs.
If it wasn’t for Radha Yadav and Shafali Verma, India would have struggled to win against the Sri Lankans. Radha Yadav is a brilliant left-arm orthodox spinner and quite successful in beating the batswomen with her turn.
She had the better of most of the batswomen in the top order of the Sri Lankan team and swiftly paved her way to grab their wickets. Radha Yadav is currently the highest wicket-taker for the Indian team in T20Is since the start of 2019.
Radhika Yadav had 4 dismissals to her name in the match against Sri Lanka and delivered the performance of a lifetime. The 19-year old bowler from Mumbai can hit big shots whenever the team requires and is a crucial cricketer down the order.
Luck has been Radha’s side since her domestic days but her skills are much more on the brighter side than the luck is. She has been India’s top bowler for almost a year now and we hope that she holds down to the position for a long time.
Radha Yadav has been a regular part of the T20I team since her debut on 13th February 2018 but hasn’t played in any other format yet. She is yet to be tested in the longer formats of the game but till then she is an important member of the T20 team.
Her journey as a female cricketer has not been a path of roses and she has worked quite hard to reach where she is. There have been a lot of influences in her life that pushed her to move towards the goal despite all the struggles and discomfort.
Radha Yadav was on the top of her last year and even achieved a career-best No. 2 T20I bowling ranking and was one of three Indian cricketers on the ICC’s 2019 T20I team of the year.
Her journey started when an English-medium school rejected her application because Radha’s mom never went to school. She would play cricket with the boys in the compound of her apartment building and one day Praful Naik, her first coach spotted her playing.
“Praful sir convinced my dad to let me train under him, for free. Papa agreed only after he found out that the Shiv Seva Ground [in the neighborhood] holds nets for girls. I had pleaded with Papa to enroll me [in the set-up] there, but he said it was beyond his means.” My father had struggled to provide a two-time meal for the family but he ensured that his daughter was trained perfectly.
In an interview, Yadav said,
Radha Yadav’s journey
When Naik approached her father to coach Radha, her aspirations and talent got direction and proper training.
She moved up from playing tennis-ball cricket to practicing with the leather ball, while her father started selling vegetables and groceries to support his daughter and used the extra income on cricket equipment for his daughter.
Yadav never loved bowling and was never convinced that she should play as a professional bowler.
In 2013, Praful convinced Radha to move from Anandibai Damodar Kale Vidyalaya to Our Lady of Remedy High School, where he was the head coach.
Yadav played her first tournament and featured in Our Lady’s win over St. Joseph’s Convent High School in the final of the inter-school championship that year.
Yadav stuck with Naik for a long time and when a maiden call-up came from the Mumbai U19, Yadav played with her national team teammate, Rodrigues and then moved to play for Baroda, where Naik shifted base in 2016.
“When I saw her at the Baroda nets for the first time, her body language and attitude swelled with positivity. She was always up for challenges and seeing her leadership qualities, I gave her the responsibility to lead the U-19 side.”
Geeta Gayakwad remembers her early memories of Rasha and says,
Under Yadav, West Zone became the 2016-17 BCCI U19 inter-zonal champions, and she went on to captain the Baroda U-23 side in 2017 and the senior side in 2018. From there on, it has been a continuous ride for the youngster as she went on to play for India as is one of the best T20I bowlers in the world right now.
Her father’s role in the journey
Her father has sacrificed a lot to help Radha provide the proper cricketing equipment and not only that, he has done every job possible to get some extra income in the house. If not for her father, she wouldn’t have been able to represent the nation and become the cricketer she is today. In an interview with one of the recognized newspapers,
“It’s not just me or my wife; All her three older siblings have played particular roles is her growth. My older daughter, Sonee, used to be a better cricketer than Radha, but she sacrificed her career to help Radha fly.”
her father mentioned,
Aspirations for family
While growing up, Yadav has seen her father struggle for a two-time meal for the family and this has been a major influence in her journey as a cricketer. While she played for Baroda in domestic cricket, her father continued selling vegetables and lived in his humble abode in the Kandivali suburb. In an interview with a popular newspaper,
“My home was buzzing with guests, relatives, and friends after Radha’s match-winning performance against Sri Lanka. She has turned out to be a brilliant cricketer and now wants me to shift to Bandra and live a retired life.”
Omprakash Yadav said,
When Radha earned her first abroad contact, worth Rs 10 lakhs, she gifted her father a small grocery shop. In an interview.
“The only thing I think while leaving for my cricket tours is Papa’s smile. There is so much pain hidden behind it and the only way I can honor his sacrifices is by becoming one of the best cricketers this nation has ever seen.” Radha wants her father to live a life that would fulfill all his desires and he doesn’t have to work anymore.
Radha Yadav
Quick Recap
Who is Radha Yadav?
According to Wikipedia “Radha Prakash Yadav (born 21 April 2000) is an Indian cricketer. She plays for Mumbai, Baroda and West zone. She has played 4 First-class, 13 List A and 16 Women’s Twenty20 matches. She made her debut in major domestic cricket on 10 January 2015 against Kerala”