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‘Sehwag of Shahdol’ Pooja Vastrakar became a pacer after watching Mitchell Starc bowl

Pooja Vastrakar is the new kid on the block in Indian women’s cricket. The 18-year-old girl has got into the senior Indian women’s team for the forthcoming South Africa series.

By Sujata Sarkar
‘Sehwag of Shahdol’ Pooja Vastrakar became a pacer after watching Mitchell Starc bowl

New Delhi, Jan 17: Pooja Vastrakar is the new kid on the block in Indian women’s cricket. The 18-year girl has got into the senior Indian women’s team for the forthcoming South Africa series.

Vastrakar hails from a small town, Shahdol, in Madhya Pradesh. Interestingly, she began her career as a batswoman in her early days. Her friends in the town used to call her 'Sehwag of Shahdol”!

Pooja was a hard-hitting batswoman and in her early days and she rocked while hitting sixes all around the park in the tennis ball tournaments in her region.

Pooja’s father Bandhan Ram Vastrakar had spent living in dire distress. He used to work in the Shahdol BSNL department as a daily wager. Along with his wife, there were six kids in his family. Pooja was the youngest child.

In a bid to reduce financial hardship, Pooja’s elder brothers, as well as a sister, had to start working at an early age without completing their studies.

Pooja, however, used to roam around and play street cricket with the tennis ball. Still, she used to get a lot of boost from her father.

The cricketer, who is currently in Goa to take part in the ongoing BCCI domestic T-20 matches donning Madhya Pradesh shirts, said over phone, “Actually Virender Sehwag was my idol. While playing gali cricket with the tennis ball, I always loved hitting sixes just like Sehwag used to play big shots in international cricket. My childhood coach Ashutosh Srivastav picked me after watching me in a tennis ball match.”

Pooja, who struck 12 wickets in only four matches in her debut in the BCCI organized inter-zonal women championship in Guwahati in 2015, converted herself to a professional bowler while learning the game at Gulmohor Cricket Academy in Shahdol.

Her coach also commented while speaking over phone from Shahdol, “Once Pooja, while sitting in the academy dressing room, was watching Mitchel Starc bowl against England. It was after that incident that she started developing passion towards fast bowling. Then she started practising medium pace bowling and swinging it both ways. I hope she will succeed in South Africa as she is expected to get a favourable pitch there.”

Story first published: Wednesday, January 17, 2018, 18:15 [IST]
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