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Cricket PlayersSwitch to leg-spin changes Parshavi Chopra’s fortunes
The 17-year-old bowler from Uttar Pradesh is training hard at the off-season camp of the UP Warriorz
Keen to become one of the fastest of all-time, Parshavi Chopra started her career as a pace bowler but switched to leg-spin on the advice of her coach and didn’t know that this would change her fortunes.
Besides practising leg-spin at the nets of the Youngstar Cricket Academy and Yuvraj Singh Center of Excellence in Greater Noida, Parshavi started following Australian great Shane Warne, watching and reading about him. Now, she follows one of India’s best leg-spinners Yuzvendra Chahal.
“Yes, I started as a fast bowler, but my coach advised me to switch to leg-spin. It changed my fortunes. I was fascinated when I saw a women’s cricket match between India and Australia and I started dreaming to be a batter like Smriti Mandhana,” said Parshavi, who took 11 wickets and helped India win their maiden Under-19 Women’s World Cup in South Africa this January.
“I was surprised to get a call to play for India in the Under-19 World Cup. I wasn’t confident when I got to bowl my first over,” said Parshavi, an integral part of the UP Warriorz in the Women’s Premier League.
A bowling all-rounder, Chopra took up cricket at the age of 10. She has represented Uttar Pradesh at the U14, U16 and U19 levels in domestic cricket. “Cricket is my lifeline. (I am) putting in a sincere effort in the off-season camp of UP Warriorz nowadays so that I can do well in the upcoming domestic season as well as the next season of WPL,” Parshavi, 17, said.
“Playing for senior India team is my target. The domestic matches and WPL are the platforms from where I can impress the selectors,” she said.
Parshavi was always athletic and made her international debut at the youth level for India in 2022 against New Zealand in a five-match series that India clinched 5-0. “Even now, I watch the videos of Shane Warne and Yuzvendra Chahal. Their style of bowling leg-spin is quite inspirational. I would love to spin the ball like Warne, who was master in hitting the stumps from around the leg,” said Parshvi.
“I enjoyed every wicket at the Women’s T20 World Cup and it was like a dream come true for me. I wish to keep the momentum going in future events also,” said Parshavi, who with 11 wickets ended up as the second highest wicket-taker at the World Cup.
Parshavi was snapped up by franchise team UP Warriorz for ₹10 Lakh for the WPL. In fact, skating was her first love and she had won a silver medal in the sports, but later her parents enrolled her in cricket ac academy as she belongs to a family of cricket enthusiasts. Her grandfather, Parshuram Chopra, was once a zonal-level cricketer. Her father and uncle have played club cricket.
In her first attempt when she was 12, she couldn’t make it to the Uttar Pradesh U-16 Team because she was underage. But she made it to the team the very next year and was declared the best bowler during a Chhattisgarh tour.
