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Bijnor’s Meghna sees Jhulan Goswami as mentor
The lanky pacer is a genuine swing bowler, who aims to do well for India at the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham
Lanky pacer Meghna Singh is 2cm shorter than Jhulan Goswami and that is not the only field wherein the Uttar Pradesh cricketer lags behind the women’s cricket legend. With just one Test and 14 ODIs under her belt, Meghna has a lot of ground to cover before she can even come into the league of Goswami, a veteran of 12 WTests, 201 WODIs and 68 WT20s. But Meghna knows one thing it never hurts to try and follow the footsteps of a legend and her idol.
Meghna, who has now emerged as India’s frontline bowler, was curious and apprehensive about meeting Goswami before the one-off Pink Ball (D/N) Test match against Australia in September last year at Carrara Stadium in Queensland. When Goswami stood beside her and complimented her bowling it boosted the 28-year-old Bijnor girl Meghna’s confidence and all her apprehensions of representing team India and playing alongside a legend vanished.
“I was pleasantly surprised to find Jhulan di standing right next to me, appreciating and boosting my morale. Now, this has been a trend as she always keeps telling me about the finer points of bowling even in the matches,” says Meghna, who took four wickets in India’s 3-0 clean sweep in the ODI series against Sri Lanka last week.
“If you have a cricketer like Jhulan di around you, you will never feel short of confidence, and I always enjoy her presence on the ground. It gives me extraordinary confidence,” added Meghna, who bowled alongside Jhulan in the drawn Test for the first time and took two wickets in the first innings. “She (Jhulan) is a great cricketer as well as a human being too.”
“I always try to learn from Jhulan di’s bowling, action, enthusiasm, and even behaviour both on and off the field. I have always regarded Jhulan Di and Mithali Raj as my idols in the game. I feel proud that I could play alongside both the greats of women’s cricket,” Meghna added.
Having 14 wickets in as many matches so far in limited overs cricket, Meghna credits her childhood coach and mentor Lakshyaraj Tyagi for her success in the sport. “When I met him for the first time at the Nehru Stadium in Bijnore in 2008, he asked me to bowl one spin delivery and one pace delivery. I had no idea what he was thinking then, but he immediately told me to start pace bowling,” recalled Meghna. “He (Tyagi) has been my Guru as well as a mentor too, and whatever I am today is because of his efforts,” Meghna added.
An out-swing pacer, who enjoys bowling with both red cherry and white ball, Meghna is looking forward to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. “My goal is to help India win at Birmingham by taking as many wickets as possible. As a member of the Indian women’s team, I feel proud to have the opportunity to earn more success in my career.”
Eldest among the siblings of five, Meghna, who grew up playing cricket in the bye-lanes of her house in Kotwali Dehat area of Bijnor alongside boys, said that except her family, everybody opposed her playing cricket along with boys, but she stood firm to her plans.
“I still remember those days when people used to oppose me playing cricket with boys, but it was my family that stood by me like a rock and I too did not listen to anyone,” said Meghna. “Now, the same group is proud of me. Everybody goes through this, and I felt I was destined to play cricket.”
After 14 years of hard work, Meghna made it to the Indian team in 2021. “To get to the national team, I knew, I had to play well in domestic cricket,” said Meghna, who is also working hard to improve her batting skills.
“I know that nowadays every team needs all-rounders so I am working hard on my batting too. I still feel there is a lot to improve my bowling too and I am consistently working on my fitness as well as skills as I also need to develop variations in my bowling,” she said.
Coach Tyagi feels that the pacer needs more consistency in the length of her deliveries. “Meghna needs to bowl on a consistent line outside the off-stump. She becomes almost unplayable if she bowls good-length deliveries as playing her outside from the off-stump is something very difficult for the batters,” said Tyagi, who has produced several top Ranji Trophy cricketers for Uttar Pradesh.
