Watching the India vs Australia semi-finals of the 2017 Women’s World Cup in England where Harmanpreet Kaur smacked a 115-ball 171, changed the life of 12-year-old Parushi Prabhakar.
At the time, she was slogging at excelling in tennis, before the Chandigarh girl realised that women could also play cricket at the global level after seeing India slay the mighty Australians on their way to the World Cup finals. A few months later, UT Cricket Association (UTCA) got affiliation from the Board of Cricket Control in India and like many aspiring cricketers, left-handed batter and sharp Chinaman bowler Parushi also got a platform to showcase her talent.
After doing well for Chandigarh since 2019 in U-19 and U-23 tournaments, 16-year-old opener Parushi hogged the limelight recently as she scored 31 runs against the star-studded and eventual champions Railways at the Women’s T20 tournament for seniors. Even though Chandigarh lost four out of five matches during the T20 meet, Parushi impressed the selectors with her batting prowess, as a result of which she made it to the U-19 National Cricket Academy camp to be held at the IS Bindra PCA Stadium in Mohali from May 16. The camp is especially significant as the U-19 Women’s World Cup will be held in South Africa early next year and the Indian team will comprise the players attending these camps. “It is very important that I make the most of the opportunity at the camp and learn. When I was selected for the Chandigarh senior team, I worked hard on my fitness and lost 13 kgs with the help of very seasoned trainer Raj Yadav. I like to go for my shots and hitting India bowlers like Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana and Arundhati Reddy for boundaries during the T20 tournament for seniors helped me gain confidence,” said Parushi, who idolises Smriti Mandhana and Yuvraj Singh.
“Pooja (Vastrakar) didi came up to me and appreciated my batting abilities after the game against Madhya Pradesh. I was thrilled,” added Parushi.
{{/usCountry}}“Pooja (Vastrakar) didi came up to me and appreciated my batting abilities after the game against Madhya Pradesh. I was thrilled,” added Parushi.
{{/usCountry}}“It is very rare that you find such all-round abilities in a young girl. I have not seen any Chinaman bowler in women’s cricket in India yet. She has done an exceptional job on her fitness in the last six months and on her skills too so that she could do well at the senior level,” said Ravinder Nain, former first-class cricketer who has been mentoring Parushi along with coach Yoginder Puri.
Both of Parushi’s parents are professors at Panjab University and her training started at 12 when her father installed practice nets at their house on the PU campus. Exposure to playing with boys who bowled Chinaman, off-spin, fast bowling and leg-break helped her become a better player. “I always played with the boys and that helped me pick the sport well. I am very keen on learning more about Chinaman bowling in the next months,” said Parushi, a Class 12 student of Ankur School.