When Renuka Singh marks her run-up at Queenstown on Wednesday, she will not only have the field setting in mind but remember her father’s blessings and mother’s sacrifices. (More Cricket News)
It’s not easy for a girl born in a remote hamlet in hilly terrains of India to play cricket for India but 25-year-old Renuka Singh did just that. Simply put, she was better than the boys in Parsa village in Rohru sub-division, 110 km from the state capital Shimla. Renuka will be the second girl after Sushma Verma to play for India from Himachal Pradesh.
Life is a struggle for athletes living in remote areas and aspiring to play for India. It becomes even more difficult when one loses a guardian, who is the main breadwinner of the family. Renuka Singh has faced it all.
Sports history is replete with super heroes who have conquered the odds of life purely by staying determined and focused on their objective. After father Kehar Singh died in 1998 when she was just three years old, Renuka was lucky that her family was supportive and mother did everything to keep the fire burning in a little girl who was fascinated by cricket.
A DIFFERENT GIRL
Having rose through the ranks, Renuka Singh is now part of the Indian women’s cricket team that is playing a limited overs series in New Zealand. This series, consisting of one T20 international and five ODIs, will be a dress rehearsal to the ICC Women’s World Cup 2021-22 that will be played in New Zealand from March 4. Indian women start their ODI World Cup campaign against Pakistan in Mount Maunganui on March 6.
“Today, dad must be super-happy and a proud man. It was his dream to see either me or my brother play for India. I have lived up to dad’s dream,” said Renuka, who is expected to share the new ball with Shikha Pandey or Rajeshwari Gayakwad.
A Harmanpreet Kaur fan, Renuka’s rise is a story of inspiration. To challenge the boys in her village and run as fast as they did, Renuka showed the spark to play sport. She wasn’t the shy village lass who would go to school and return home to help mum with the daily chores. She was happier playing cricket.
Her talent was noticed by an uncle who sent Renuka to an academy in Dharamshala. Bhupinder Singh Thakur, a college lecturer, played a key role in Renuka’s career as the facility at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association-run academy, started by former BCCI president and Union minister Anurag Thakur, helped hone her skills. The regimented training at the academy surrounded by the beautiful Dhauladhar range helped Renuka focus and chalk out a career path.
Coach Pawan Sen helped fine tune her game. She bowled fast but in a pacer’s armoury, speed becomes a major weapon when it comes laced with swing. Sen taught Renuka the use of the seam and practice the action that will make her injury free.
MAKING AN IMPRESSION
Renuka Singh then made it to the Himachal Under-16 and U-19 teams. A hattrick in a U-19 match against Karnataka won her accolades. She was slowly getting noticed and in 2019, when Renuka picked up a record 23 wickets in the BCCI’s One-Day tournament, the national selectors got seriously interested.
On October 7, 2021, Renuka made her T20 international debut against Australia at the Carrara Oval in Queensland. That match was abandoned. In the second game on October 9, which Australia won by four wickets, Renuka scored 1 batting at No. 10 and went wicketless.
In the third match a day later at Carrara, Renuka got her first T20 international wicket. It was the big wicket of Alyssa Healy, who edged a length ball from Renuka.
With expectations high on Mithali Raj’s team in the upcoming ODI series and then the ICC Women’s World Cup in New Zealand, the responsibility on Renuka will be high. If she can maintain her skills, Renuka will be able to exploit the conditions Down Under.
MOTHER’S SUPPORT
But with every success, Renuka will not only remember her cricket-loving dad – Kehar Singh even named his son after Vinod Kambli – but will know the support mother Sunita Thakur made to bring up her children.
Two years after Kehar’s death, Sunita was employed by the state public health and irrigation department as a Class IV staff. With a meagre salary of Rs 1500, Sunita raised Vinod and Renuka.
“Despite the hardships, mum never let us understand the pain she took to run the family. I get emotional every time mum calls me. I have mixed feelings since dad is not there to see me play for India but I know he is watching me from heaven,” signed off Renuka.
