BENGALURU: From the time she can recall, Laura Mophakedi has always wanted to step outside of Africa. And that dream has come true now as she travels with the Botswana national women’s cricket team ‘Herons’ as they venture beyond their home turf. Fifteen women from Botswana landed in Bengaluru on November 3, dreaming of experiencing the land of cricket legends like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. For them, beyond the traffic, training and spicy food lie the inspiring tales that they will take home for thousands of girls who want to grow up to be a proud ‘Heron’.
“Growing up, we have always wanted to travel outside Africa and India is one of the best countries when it comes to cricket. So it’s like a dream come true for most of us. Even the girls who couldn’t come are waiting back home but they are dreaming big now,” says Mophakedi, captain of the team, who, along with her team has been practicing at the Samprasiddhi Sports Estadio, Thanisandra.
The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has collaborated with the Botswana Cricket Association to host the two-week tour in Bengaluru. As part of the tour, the team will engage with various coaches and have training matches with the local teams to prepare for the upcoming World Cup Division 1 Qualifiers in December in Uganda. Coach of the team Stanley Timoni says, “We need to up our game and we are here to learn. It is a different environment and very different conditions in terms of the pitch, we are facing a lot of spinners here which is giving our batters an opportunity to learn how to play spin.”
With the city witnessing rains, Shameelah Mosweu, vice-captain has experienced a completely different set of conditions. “Today, the pitch was damp and moist and the spin has really turned the ball a lot from the Indian team. We don’t get an opportunity to face spin bowlers like that on our home turf so today was something different and challenging. That is why we are here, we need to be challenged and figure out
new things.”
Mophakedi agrees and adds, “We have been interacting with a lot of coaches from here and they are helping us with the basics. Yesterday, they filmed us also so we will have a video analysis as well which is something that we never had before.”Apart from the training, the team will also watch the World Cup match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka today. “We never expected to watch a World Cup game live!” she exclaims.
The essence of the tour has been to better train for upcoming games, says Sanjay Bhargava, head of the delegation of the Botswana cricket team. “It is a big thing for the girls to come to India. For us, it is just a matter of developing our cricket and building relations through sports.”