The making of Uma Kashvi, the youngest ever pick in WPL auction history

The 15-year-old from Karnataka was selected by Delhi Capitals and many hope this is just the start of a special journey

Uma Kashvi, the Karnataka all-rounder, scripted history, becoming the youngest to be picked in the Women's Premier League (WPL) auction. However, her family always knew that she was destined for great things. When she was eight, she was batting 30 overs a day while facing a semi-soft ball and received blows on her body.

Uma Kashvi entered the WPL history books. (Uma Kashvi - Instagram )

The blows did not deter her from her goal as she turned up for practice day in and day out. When she was nine, she turned heads in club cricket, smashing 185 in a single match under the captaincy of Veda Krishnamurthy.

“Yesterday, we were all jumping in joy eventually, but at first, I cried. Tears were rolling down my face because you need some kind of recognition. Those are the things that what you look forward. To be picked by a franchise like the Delhi Capitals (for ₹10 lakhs), I was so happy for Kashvi. We went and met her, we cut a cake,” her uncle, Sai Satya Vijay, told HT from Bilaspur, where Kashvi is currently playing for Karnataka in the Women’s U-19 T20 Challenger Trophy.

Being picked for the WPL is just the first step for Kashvi, whose journey began when she was just seven. Vijay said that his niece has always been inclined towards sports from the very start, and hence she also tried her hand at swimming.

“She did swimming when she was seven, seven and a half. But I have always been passionate about cricket; I am a big fan of Sachin Tendulkar. So when she was about seven, I was trying to ask her to play cricket. When she tried her hand at it, we saw she was a natural, and she liked it,” he said.

Once the talent in her was recognised, the work started. First, the importance of fitness was ingrained in her, and from then on, there was no looking back.

“We had another coach on her fitness and on her skills. So, like fitness used to be, it was like two hours, two and a half hours per day. And the other skills, she worked on for another two hours. We put her into a lot of tests, making sure that she gets up in the morning at 5.30, does her fitness diligently, runs, does squats, sit-ups, everything. All the fitness, a little bit of weights. It's not like you can go to the gym at that time,” said Vijay.

How was her talent discovered?

Speaking of Kashvi, she is highly regarded in cricket circles and is known for hitting big sixes. Moreover, she is also very agile in the field. She has already represented India in the U19 cricket and is expected to be a part of the national team for the U19 World Cup next year.

Her first major recognition came when she turned 15, captaining the Karnataka side. Before that, she had already broken into the state's age group teams.

Ever since deciding to take up the sport professionally, Kashvi has showcased her toughness. According to Vijay, there wasn't a single day early on when she didn't have a mark on her body from the intense training sessions. But it all paid off around the time when she was eight, as her talent was recognised by none other than Shantha Rangaswamy, the former India captain.

“When she was around eight and a half, Shanta Rangaswamy saw her ability. She saw her, and she said, ‘This girl has something.’ So, she called me and my brother and my sister-in-law and told it in as many words. ‘If people can work with her and keep her grounded, she has a future.’,” said Vijay.

Devdutt Padikkal's coach

Kashvi also received coaching from Naseeruddin, Devdutt Padikkal's childhood coach. “He helped her during the club cricket format,” Vijay said. However, the biggest influence in Kashvi's life came when she was 13, when she was taken to the academy named Arjun Dev’s New Innings Cricket Enterprise.

According to Vijay, Dev was the one who took Kashvi's game to another level, and she has reached this point largely because of him.

“Arjun Dev was very instrumental in making sure that her game goes to the next level. He is someone who transformed her cricket in the last two to two and a half years. She used to be an opener, but he transformed her into a good middle-order batter. He believes that she has a very good cricketing knowledge,” said Vijay, who gave up his IT job just to give more attention to his niece’s development.

Getting enrolled in this academy also gave Kashvi a chance to observe Shreyanka Patil, the Indian regular, up close, and there was even a time when she got to lead her.

“Arjun made her the captain for the academy team and they won 11 tournaments consecutively. The coach believes that she has the skill,” Vijay signed off.