CHENNAI: The Bareddy household in the Bandlapalli village of the Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh was buzzing on Sunday. It was a momentous day for them as their daughter, Anusha, made her international debut for India in Mirpur, Bangladesh. After watching their daughter's bowling on the mobile screen (it was streaming on youtube), her parents, B. Lakshmi Devi and B. Malli Reddy, couldn't just sit and relish the occasion. They had to go for their daily wage job in a farm. Their jobs may be humble but they never let it come their way while supporting their daughter Anusha to pursue her dreams.
"We had goosebumps when we saw her get the cap. But we had to go for our job because it is our main source of income," Anusha's father told this daily. For them, supporting Anusha in whatever way they could was their primary objective. Being a girl child was never a problem. "We have always supported her. Even if she gets selected to represent her country or not we will continue to support her."
Given the costs involved in cricket and their financial condition, the family is grateful to the Rural Development Trust, run by Anne Ferrer, for helping her out. "It's possible for her to play cricket because of the RDT. They are sponsoring her education, stay, and food. Their help is the biggest support."
It all started for the all-rounder when her school PE Teacher, Ravi Kumar, introduced her to cricket in 2014. She then participated in a rural cricket tournament organised by the Anantapur Sports Academy and won the 'Best Player’ of the tournament award. That helped her get selected for the ASA Cricket Academy. In the Academy, she started training with the boys. Yugandhar Reddy, Cricket Coordinator at the ASA, believes that was necessary for Anusha.
"She used to attend fielding and bowling sessions with boys in Anantapur. We thought if she can positively compete with the boys, she can also compete with the girls." The professional fielding drills from an early age helped the Andhra player when she started playing age-group cricket for the South Zone under the guidance of Srinivas Reddy.
"In 2016, she played for the selection of U-16 for Andhra Pradesh. I saw her for the first time then. At that time she was a left-arm medium pacer. Her height was around 5’4 but she used to swing the ball. And the best part was her fielding," he recollects.
In the 2018-19 season, Srinivas Reddy took a calculated decision to change Anusha's bowling style. "As a medium pacer, to get a good bounce and pace, you need a good height. But I didn’t see any growth for her with medium pace. She was always a good fielder who could bat in death overs. Then I thought, if we switch from pace to spin, it will be useful for her."
"At that time Andhra Pradesh also needed a left-arm spinner. We thought it will be useful for the team and for her individual growth as well," the veteran coach who helped Anjali Sarvani and Meghana Sabbineni unearth their potential added.
The switch to the bowling style came in handy for Anusha as she found herself on the senior side after the change. In the Inter-Zonal one-day tournament earlier this year, against the West Zone, she finished with four wickets in the first match. Those performances propelled her for the India call-up as expected by her coach, who wants to bring out more from the young player.
"We did expect it (the selection). During the domestic season for the South Zone, she impressed the selectors. We have worked on her batting as well. Now everybody is focusing on the batting. As a coach, I would prefer picking an all-rounder who can bat in the death overs. For the last three years, she has worked on her batting and she hitting the ball very well with good running between the wickets," he said.
Before heading to Bangladesh, Anusha got the opportunity to put on the Indian jersey in the Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Hong Kong. The Indian team could only play two matches in the tournament due to rain and unfavorable weather conditions, but Srinivas Reddy thinks that experience was vital for her.
"Before that (Emerging), she continuously played in the domestic, but when she plays in foreign conditions, it gives her more experience," he insisted.
With her parents' unequivocal support, guidance from the local and state coaches, and much-needed financial assistance from the organization like RDT, Anusha is ready to make her mark at the international level, one match at a time.
Brief Score
Bangladesh 114 for 5 (Shorna 28*, Mostary 23, Vastrakar 1-16) by seven wickets lost to India 118 for 3 (Harmanpreet 54*, Mandhana 38, Sultana 2-25) by seven wickets