New Delhi: Asha Sobhana grabbed headlines when the 33-year-old from Kerala became the oldest woman to debut for India in May earlier this year against Bangladesh. Three months down the line, the leg-spinning all-rounder found herself among the final 15 who will travel to the United Arab Emirates for the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. With the pitches in Dubai and Sharjah slow bowlers, Sobhana’s leg-spin will come in handy for the Indian team in the tournament.
“Like everyone, I just got to know from the BCCI app, got the notification. I am very happy because I had worked very hard for this,” Sobhana told India.com in an exclusive interaction. “It’s a very big thing I know and I am looking forward to do my best. Winning the World Cup is everyone’s dream. I want to do my best for my country whenever I get a chance,” added Shobhana on Tuesday.
Shobhana came into the limelight when she took a fifer on her Women’s Premier League debut for Royal Challengers Bengaluru earlier this year. She took 12 wickets in total in WPL 2024. Her WPL 2024 show propelled Sobhana in the Indian team. For Sobhana, age doesn’t matter in cricket as long as one loves the game. She also cited the example of men’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav who started late in the Indian team and won the T20 World Cup recently.
Asked on how she motivates herself every day, Sobhana emphasized on the perspective about how a players visualizes her game. “It’s all about the way you see things. Of course I was little late to come to this stage but I don’t see myself a little old and I have to be careful. I just remind myself that I am a cricketer and I have to do my best as long as I play cricket,” she added.
“We have the best example in our Indian women’s cricket team (referring to Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami). Our T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav also came in very late and the way he played and won the World Cup, these are the best examples to look up to,” said Sobhana.
Sobhana also heaped high praise for seniors Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana for keeping the dressing room atmosphere light. “Both Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana are the captain and vice-captains of the Indian team and are greats supporters of the players. So it was never a tough situation for whoever came new in the team,” she said.
Notably, the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 was shifted from Bangladesh to United Arab Emirates due to the political unrest in the sub-continent. The Women in Blue start their campaign against New Zealand on October 4, before facing arch-rivals Pakistan two days later. India play Sri Lanka and Australia on October 9 and 13. In the league stages, India will play three matches in Dubai and one in Sharjah.
Speaking about her targets in the tournament, Sobhana was pretty straightforward. “Go match and match, do your best and win the first-ever Women’s World Cup for India,” she concluded.
