CHENNAI: If one walks into the NICE Cricket Arena at Huttanahalli on a breezy Bengaluru day in June, jersey no 31 is impossible to miss. Wearing the number on her back, Shreyanka Patil with her pink headband, more often than not, would be on the top of her mark in one of the open nets.
While the right leg is rooted to the ground, her left foot is perpendicular to the surface before she gently kisses it with her toes and then goes into her run-up and lets the ball rip with her fingers. If you watch from close quarters, you might just find yourself hearing the ball zip through the air before landing and turning. Sometimes it would be spot bowling, sometimes it would be match scenarios, depending on what she and her coach Arjun Dev had planned the previous night. It would continue for a while before moving towards fielding and batting sessions till 6.30-7 in the evening with a short break in between for lunch.
That is how most days look during off-season for Shreyanka. It starts at the rented house near the academy — to which she shifted, leaving behind the home in the city where her family lives — early in the morning with her hitting the gym and ends with cooking dinner and crashing after planning the next day’s training. That has been the 21-year-old's routine from the day she had moved near the academy to focus on her cricket and work with Arjun. She had trained her mind to this tiring, and to an extent boring, routine with one dream in mind — to wear the blue jersey and play for India.
On Wednesday, that dream came true as she got her India cap from Smriti Mandhana at the Wankhede Stadium. The figures — 2/44 — and the result — England beat India by 38 runs — did not go the way Shreyanka and India would have wanted, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything to cherish. Whether it is her first international wicket — she cleaned up England captain and her Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate Heather Knight — or wearing the India jersey and standing for the national anthem with the team, Shreyanka had moments that would stay with her for the rest of her life.
In a year where the Karnataka all-rounder has scaled several new peaks for herself, from the Women's Premier League to India emerging team call-up to making her debut for the country, Wednesday probably was the icing on the cake. And through 2023, she has established herself as an out-and-out athlete on and off the field, someone who owns the limelight, belongs at that level, has the clarity of her role and handles the media like a pro. Her tweet after the player of the match show against England A last week garnered a lot of attention, with many appreciating her off-field maturity at 21.
On the field, Shreyanka is the representation of the next generation. She is aggressive with her skills, a gun fielder — something India would appreciate in the coming years — and an aspiring finisher who isn't afraid to take on bowlers in the death. She is, to be precise, the all-round package.
For someone who picked up the ball for fun at the age of 10 in her dad Rajesh Patil's academy, there isn't a thing that Shreyanka hasn't tried. She bowled medium-pace, donned gloves, and tried leg-spin before realising she was at home as an offie. Her hunger and drive have been the same since the moment she decided cricket was going to be her first priority in life when she was playing U-16 for the state.
"When someone does something well, you want to do more of it. I used to eat and drink cricket like how people say. I just couldn’t get it out of my head. Cricket was just there for me, no matter what, I used to play cricket. Somewhere, I realised that this is where I belong and no matter what, I am not giving up. That day I realised and till date, I have the same hunger towards the game," she had told this daily recently.
Even then, she used to take an auto and go to the Chinnaswamy Stadium at five in the morning all by herself. And she knew it was something she had to do all by herself for a long time. That her parents were aware she isn't afraid of anything and can handle herself meant Shreyanka had all the freedom to pursue what she loved. Which is why, once she started training with Arjun, it became a no-brainer for her to shift to a rented house and live alone rather than spending several hours on travel every day.
"The love I have towards this game, it is not just talent, it is also hard work. I was like 'no matter what the requirement is, I will do it'. Because practice is something you cannot avoid. For me, practicing for 6 hours a day helps. Maybe for another person, just two hours is enough. But I cannot travel two hours and go back, I am going to waste 3-4 hours, this is one of the best decisions in my life. To move here, it has been two years since I moved here, it is just more convenient, relaxing," she says.
Now, Shreyanka is a professional athlete who is doing everything that is needed to get to the top level. This is perhaps why she speaks about the big life decisions she had to take as a teenager in a very matter-of-fact manner. However, as she admits, there is more — to Shreyanka, her life, struggles and personality. She loves Mickey Mouse (the cartoon character), social media and dancing, spends her time drawing after a long and hard day on the field, has a routine to eat appam and mutton curry at Itihaas restaurant before every important tournament (it became a thing after a friend said she will do well in the game on the day after they had appam and it came true), and more importantly she is aware she can and cannot do and does not have an insecure bone in her.
"You cannot let go of your natural inner whatever you have," she says."You are childish, face it. I can’t fake it. I am someone who expresses what I would feel. If I am sad, you can see it on my face, if I am happy, frustrated or disappointed you can just make out from my expression. I don’t want to be that kind of person, who would keep everything inside. It just comes out naturally. That also comes from Virat (Kohli) whom I have been watching since I was kid.
"There will be phases where you are not doing that well or you are not in a good space of mind, that time I also feel like I need my parents, I need someone to be there to pamper me, but that is how life is. You won't do everything easily. If I am a little unhappy today, I will draw in such a way that it makes me happy. I write stuff, it is not just a normal mountain or river, I will draw in such a way that my mind shifts to a happy place. You can’t let your mind be stuck in a place for a very long time. Because time keeps going, you cannot always be sulking. You have to make up your mind, so that you can improve your life every day. So if drawing doesn’t work, I have to put in my earplugs and dance. It has helped me a lot. Be happy, I dance. Upset, I dance. So that gets me back to my zone, that is what I do."
The other key factor that has helped Shreyanka through her journey is the people she has around her. From her house owner, who knows her mood and is kind to her, giving her food after a tiring day to Arjun who has been with her every step of the way over the past few years, Shreyanka, admittedly, is "blessed" to have such people.
From the first day they met, Arjun and Shreyanka clicked and since then, they have become "buddies" as she calls it. "He has helped me day in and day out, be it cricket or my health issues, be it my injuries, nutrition, everything he has done. Basically, he is like my another dad. I am very lucky to have two dads, one is Rajesh Patil, one is Arjun Dev. I am very grateful to have him as a coach," says an emotional Shreyanka.
Together, they make an intense training schedule every day during off-seasons. Every session, bowling or batting or fielding, is a challenge. While Shreyanka knows that she is gifted with natural turn and bounce, what has brought her this far is understanding the need to work hard every single day. She loves spot bowling despite knowing how boring it could be, bowls 20 overs continuously on one spot once or twice a week irrespective of how the rest of the session or day looks like.
"You can’t just go in and say 'today I am going to relax'. That is how my training sessions are, because that helps me. Bowling 20 overs twice a week or once a week, bowling those variations. The arm ball or a yorker, I have just added. You need that in T20s so that the batters do not predetermine. That is something we discuss. I always want to be one step ahead of the game. It is not wrong to try things. I don’t know what works for you. Suppose yorkers work for me and I did decently well. I think you need those variations in the limited format because it helps you get those wickets and creates an opportunity for you to get wickets," she explains.
Does this constant training and practice get to her at all? It seems it does, at times, during the off-season. However, Shreyanka just can't help it. She would go into the night saying 'I just want to chill for two days' but the next day she would find herself getting ready and landing at the gym the first thing in the morning. She just cannot stay away from the sport for long. She says that she has been training her mind so that it does not happen.
"I am training now so that in the next couple of years I stick to the preparation. Not many will be in a situation where someone loves to do their job and they are doing it. If my parents would not have allowed me, I don’t think I would have ended up being here. Parents are very proud of me and I am grateful that I have got this opportunity. I am doing what I love, this itself is a good thing for a person," says Shreyanka. Indeed, what more an athlete would want than representing the country in the sport they love.
This is just the beginning though. The pink headband, left foot perpendicular to the surface at the top of the mark before bowling a classic off-break to castle the stumps in blue jersey is something the sport is going to see a lot more of. For Shreyanka Patil has arrived at the stage where she belongs, and she is here to stay.