This Saturday, Rohit Kumar will sit with his mother Sarita Devi in front of his smartphone to watch his sister Archana Devi Rajput play South Africa in India's U-19 Women’s World Cup opener. The family, that lives in Ratai Purva village in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district, doesn't have a television set, but that won't dim their enthusiasm.
The inaugural edition of U19 Women's World Cup will take place in South Africa this month. (Getty Images)
Not just Rohit and Savitri, many others in the village will be glued to their screens, anticipating a fine all-round performance from Archana.
It's a world far removed from 2016 when Sarita shut out the naysayers and sent her daughter to a boarding school in Moradabad as the school offered free education to outstanding athletes.
Archana impressed with her athletic skills and a year later, caught the eye of coach Poonam Gupta who took the youngster to Kapil Pandey in Kanpur, better known as wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav's coach. Like Kuldeep, Archana started as a fast bowler but switched to off-spin on Pandey's insistence.
“Archana was very athletic and a tremendous fielder. I asked her to bowl off-spin and it came naturally to her. She would score runs in the middle order and take a lot of wickets for my academy. She made it to the UP U-16 team before graduating to the U-19 state team. I made it a point to train Kuldeep and Archana together after the latter started showing glimpses of a thinking bowler,” said Pandey, who visited Archana’s house in the village and was stunned to see the conditions in which the family lived.
“We lost our father when Archana was five and my younger brother died in 2017 to a snake bite. Our mother did farming and sold milk to make ends meet. Coaches helped us afford a cricket kit and good diet for Archana after she started doing well for the state in age-group cricket. Now she has become the pride of our village," said Rohit.
"My mother has gained so much respect because of Archana. The other day she bought a new smartphone and we all clicked pictures from her phone. Our kacha house is also getting renovated. The sport has empowered Archana and we have also got a direction in life,” he added.
If India head coach Nooshin Al Khadeer is to be believed, the 18-year-old will be India’s trump card in the U-19 World Cup. The conditions will be warm and dry in South Africa, bringing Archana's off-spin into play.
India lost to Bangladesh in the warm-up game but roared back by beating heavyweights Australia in the next fixture.
“I keep talking to Archana on the phone. She knows her responsibility and is going to take on the challenge of doing well every day. She doesn’t feel reluctant to toss the ball in the air and fool the batter with her spin. I feel she could be in the Indian senior team as there is no specialist off-spinner in the team who also bats pretty well in the middle order. She should use the U-19 World Cup platform,” Pandey said.
“UP has produced spinners like Neetu David, Deepti Sharma and Poonam Yadav. Archana idolises them and wants to play for India for many years. I went to her village and got a grand welcome from the villagers. They respect Archana and celebrate her achievements. I had tears in my eyes seeing their house. The sport has helped them in many ways,” the coach added.
India beat South Africa 4-1 in the series preceding the World Cup. Archana bagged four wickets in two low-scoring games, and India would want her in top form when they kick off their campaign against the hosts in Benoi on Saturday.
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