No matter how successful you become in life, the key is to stay connected with your roots. Same goes for young India bowler Titas Sadhu who recently won the inaugural Under-19 Women’s World Cup in South Africa. The 18-year-old pacer from Bengal bagged the Player of the Match award for her exceptional spell in the grand finale of the contest, against England. She returned figures of 2 for 6 as India bowled out the Three Lions for a paltry 68. In reply, the Girls in Blue efchased down the target with 7 wickets in hand.
After landing in Kolkata, Titas went directly to the person who helped her achieve all these. Priyankar Mukherjee, her mentor, was on the field at that time. A night prior to the World Cup final, Priyankar had a word with Titas and said this stage won’t come again in her life and advised her to do whatever it takes to be the best of the match.
“Sir used to give me courage every moment,” Titas told News 18.
Titas is more determined about her upcoming tournament. Though, her main goal is to win the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025. But as of now, he is hoping to get a contract in the upcoming Women’s Premier League (WPL).
The Under-19 World Cup victory is the first-ever ICC title won by an Indian women’s cricket team. Also, a player from Bengal won the Player of the Match award in a world cup final.
Titas’ father Ranojit Sadhu was also an athlete himself. Her cricketing talent was first noticed by Priyankar Mukherjee, a former Bengal cricketer. Since then, he started mentoring her. Despite being a female cricketer, Mukherjee used to make Titas play with boys.
“She has shown intelligence all the time. If I tell her once, she can able to remember everything. Titas was a very good student. She was never afraid while practicing with the boys even,” Priyankar said.
“Cricket needs an environment to develop. Titas looked like a person for a long race. That’s when I talk to Shiv Shankar Pal. He was the women’s coach at the time. It turns out that potential we have noticed in her was justified,” he added.
In this context, Shiv Shankar said, “Titas’ coach Priyankar told me about her. I saw her bowling in the nets and I liked her techniques. At that time, Abhishek Dalmia was the CAB president and Debrata Das was the joint secretary then. I talked to everyone and convinced them. And then, she was taken into the team. Since then, she has been playing well. The CAB is happy to see someone stepping in the shoes left by Jhulan Goswami.”
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