During her college days, Kiran Prabhu Navgire was into monitor and discipline. She gained round 100 medals in varied athletics occasions, together with javelin gold within the 2011-12 Inter-University Games. Cricket was his second sport, even though whereas rising up, his idol was MS Dhoni.
In 2016, on the age of twenty-two, he realized his potential in cricket. Now 5 years down the road, she was named within the T20I squad for the ladies’s tour of England the next month. “She was playing a university game at the Azam Sports Academy in Pune. I watched him hit sixes just for fun. His power-hitting astonished me. Me and our president Dr PA Inamdar went to her after the match and asked her which club she was training in,” her coach Gulzar Shaikh advised The Indian Express.
Inamdar and Shaikh had been gobsmacked with Kiran’s reply. “She said, koi club nahi hai sir, fun ke liye khelti hoon. Mujhe athletics mey kuch karna hai, waise bhi cricket kaafi costly game hai. (I don’t represent any club. I play cricket for fun. I want to do something in athletics because cricket is very costly,” remembers Shaikh.
Kiran Prabhu Navgire in motion. (BCCI)
Sheikh, Kiran’s first coach, says, “After listening to Kiran, I checked out Inamdar sir and we each mentioned right away ‘Isko khud ke sambhav ka nahi maloom’ (he does not understand his potential). Kiran She agreed to take cricket critically solely when Inamdar and Sheikh advised her that she wouldn’t should pay a single penny. “She comes from a very humble background. Back in Solapur, her parents are farmers. We asked her Said everything will be taken care of. You just come to our academy and play cricket,” says Sheikh.
One step for Nagaland
In 2016-17, he scored 429 runs in 5 matches in an annual event organized by the Pune District Cricket Association. In 2017, he was chosen for the Maharashtra group, however quickly shifted to Nagaland, which proved to be a life-changing determination for him.
In the 2022 Senior Women’s T20 Trophy, she was the highest scorer within the event with 525 runs, together with 162 from 76 balls towards Arunachal. She is the one Indian man or lady to attain greater than 150 in a T20 match. After Kiran, the following finest batsmen had been Yastika Bhatia (325 runs) and Shafali Verma (303 runs).
Kiran single-handedly took Nagaland to the quarter-finals, the place she scored 56 towards Kerala, her fourth half-century, however ended up on the dropping aspect.
Women’s T20 Challenge
Her six-hitting abilities bought her chosen for Velocity within the Women’s T20 Challenge. Batting on 3 runs, Kiran scored 69 runs in 34 balls, which included 5 sixes and 5 fours. Kiran hit a six at deep midwicket towards Bangladesh worldwide Salma Khatoon.
In 2016-17, he scored 429 runs in 5 matches in an annual event organized by the Pune District Cricket Association. (BCCI)
“He is a natural power-hitter. I don’t know the exact reason but she once told me that her strength comes from helping her family farm as a child and playing a variety of sports as she grows up. She used to throw shot put and javelin, which is probably the secret of her power-hitting,” says Sheikh.
“He is a big MS Dhoni fan. Every day at the nets, she would try to imitate the six that Dhoni smashed, the 2011 World Cup winner,” laughs Sheikh. His strokeplay bought Kiran recognition however then got here the truth test within the subsequent match. Kiran bought a 13-ball duck, and Deandra Dottin hit the helmet.
“Just cricket happened to him in the second game. There is a reality check for her that every day she cannot hit sixes just for fun. That void changed his mental attitude towards the game,” says Sheikh. “After the Women’s T20 problem, she began pondering like knowledgeable. Earlier she used to do a internet session, however now she shall be within the academy from 4.30 am to 10 pm. She will eat meals within the canteen itself.”
“This tour will be a huge learning curve for him, and hopefully he will get a game to showcase his talent,” he indicators off.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
