Considering she is only 25, the fact that Veda Krishnamurthy has 96 international caps to her name shows just how far the Indian star has come since her debut in 2011.
Back then, the batswoman donned the famous blue jersey for the first time as an 18-year-old against Australia in the Women’s T20I in England but her competitive bow was a disappointment as she was dismissed for just two runs.
That was just a minor blip as seven days later, Krishnamurthy let the bat do the talking in style by scoring a half-century against England in her first ODI. It may have come in a losing cause with the English winning by six wickets but it was just the start of things to come.
Fast forward to today and Krishnamurthy is now among the first names on India’s team sheet with more than 1,400 international runs in all formats. 48 ODIs and as many T20Is to be precise.
She is certain to add to that tally when the national team travels to the West Indies in November for the Women’s World Twenty20.
It’s a competition the Indians have never won before despite their dominance in the Asia Cup, in which they have lifted seven titles previously. It could have been eight in June but the subcontinent giants were stunned by Bangladesh in Kuala Lumpur.
But with that shock defeat firmly behind them, the focus is now on the Caribbean and the challenge of dethroning West Indies in their own backyard.
“There is no point sitting and feeling bad about the Asia Cup,” Krishnamurthy told Sport360. “It’s done and it’s over and the only thing we can do is go to the World Cup and do well there. Doing well over there might do good for us.
“As a whole, the women’s game has been dominated a bit with the Asian sides. Out of 10 teams, you have four Asian nations competing for the World Twenty20. It’s going to be a good thing for all of us and the standard of cricket has certainly improved. There will be pressure for everybody and for us to go out there and do well. This is a game about how how well you do on that particular day. It’s important that we take it game by game and put in a good team performance.”
India will have their share of the limelight in the Caribbean. Their run at the 2017 World Cup where they were beaten by hosts England, got people talking in India and more importantly more girls were hooked on cricket.
“The girls game has improved so much,” she added. “The standard of the game has improved vastly and that happened since the World Cup with the way we were playing the game. It has made a huge impact and a lot of girls have taken up the game.
“Every academy now has girls and we are happy that we could help bring change to India. We needed something big to happen and the World Cup was the perfect stage and time.”
Krishnamurthy featured for Hobart Hurricanes in the Women’s Big Bash League.
Earlier this year, Krishnamurthy signed for Hobart Hurricanes in the 2017-18 Women’s Big Bash League, scoring 144 runs in nine matches.
The opportunity to showcase her talent on Australian soil was one that she cherished even though it took time to find her feet on and off the pitch.
“It was a very different experience to get out of my comfort zone and handle everything by myself,” she said. “It was a challenging two months for me but I’m glad that I could learn a lot. Eventually I ended up being a better player and better person.
“That was because I was very independent and made sure I did everything correctly. To play with a different set of players was very challenging as you have to understand them. I did struggle for the first couple of weeks but had a good environment and the players were really helpful. After a few weeks, I really enjoyed playing with them.”
With the IPL going from strength to strength since the men’s edition was launched in 2008, the BCCI have yet to launch a women’s tournament.
The closest thing to the IPL that Krishnamurthy and her fellow players have been involved in on home soil was during the inaugural Women’s T20 Challenge in May where several Indian, New Zealand and Australia women internationals played at the Wankhede Stadium.
She believes the BCCI must put all their resources together and follow Australia and England in launching their own T20 tournaments, with a domestic T20 league an obvious option to generate interest.
“The BCCI have been doing a lot of things from the time we have come under their wings and there has been a drastic change every year,” she added.
“We definitely know we have to do something really big for people to come and watch cricket. That was an important agenda when we went to the World Cup and after the tournament, we were glad that girls wanted to watch the game.
“The BCCI have taken it to the next level with the contracts and increasing the fees. I think the next step is to launch the women’s IPL by 2019 or 2020. If that starts, then it will be the biggest league in the world – bigger than the Big Bash and KIA Super League.”
