CHENNAI: The Delhi women’s team are one of the better sides in the ongoing basketball Nationals at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. They may not be serial winners at this level, but their players have gone on to play for the Indian team with distinction. So much so that at one point, there were four from Delhi representing the country.
And, all of them came from one family: Divya Singh, Akanksha Singh, Prashanti Singh and Pratima Singh. Their play for Delhi was such that the band quickly received a new moniker: the Singh Sisters. While Divya (stopped playing) and Prashanti (not fit) have not come, Akanksha and Pratima have made the journey till here. Pratima, in particular, has come under the spotlight. She is one-half of one of the country’s more-famous sporting couples, having wed Ishant Sharma in December 2016. One needs to only look at her latest Instagram post to understand their love. She put up an image of her bandaged temple, and Ishant asked her to take care.
While these two were exchanging messages, a troll butted in. “Aaj board pe run kar diyo, ishi bhai...” This message infuriated the speedster and he replied back. Pratima too was not in the mood in to take any prisoners. “Why are you talking in between? Go get a life, man.”It’s something she has been doing every once in a while on social media: putting trolls in their place. “Sometimes I just let it go because some nonsense always goes on in social media. When I feel a strong reply is required, I do it,” Pratima told a few media personnel after Delhi’s match against Telangana on Thursday.
That’s also an approach Pratima took while speaking to Ishant during his rough patch last year. She made him realise that cricket was just a game and that he should not to take it too seriously. “I just told him to enjoy life. He used to think a lot about cricket, that it was his life. I told him not to put too much pressure on himself.”
Given their life as active sportspersons, it’s natural that they only see other for a bit of time. Curiously enough, they bond the most when working out in the gym. “We work out together. We have a small gym in our house, and we spend quality time there together.”
It’s surprising that Ishant has never seen Pratima in action, and that’s something the 29-year-old hopes to correct, according to Pratima. “I travelled to Sri Lanka, which is the only time I have accompanied him. Everyone was asking me why I didn’t go to South Africa. But I did not want to miss my Championship. He has his life. I have my priorities.”
Select results: Men: Karnataka 85 bt Uttarakhand 83, Delhi 68 bt Andhra Pradesh 50, Rajasthan 87 bt Kerala 72. Tamil Nadu 102 bt Gujarat 63. Women: Karnataka 70 bt Kerala 67 (after first overtime), Chhattisgarh 93 bt Tamil Nadu 83 (after first overtime), Delhi 85 bt Telangana 43.