CHENNAI: Since winning the maiden U19 World Cup with the most runs in the tournament, Shweta Sehrawat has seen many ups and downs. Whether it was winning the Women's Emerging Asia Cup in Hong Kong or representing UP Warriorz in two seasons of the Women's Premier League without many runs to show, Sehrawat has seen it all. Through all of these experiences, she has opted to look at the positives from the journey so far.
So when she was included in the India A squad that toured Australia earlier this year, the 20-year-old knew she had to make the most of this golden opportunity. "When we found out that we were going to Australia for the A tour, I was excited," the UP Warriorz top order batter told this daily. "I had never travelled to Australia before. I have played cricket in Hong Kong and South Africa, but I was excited about visiting the new place. From the experience point of view, it was about getting to know the different conditions and getting used to new wickets. I had a bit of an idea about how the conditions were going to be," she said
"I was in reserves for India during the Asia Cup and I could ask Harry di (captain Harmanpreet Kaur) and Smriti di (vice-captain Smriti Mandhana) about what to expect from those conditions. Even got some help from Shafali Verma. So they spoke about how the wickets in Australia are skiddy and bouncy. So I had a fair idea about the challenge," she added.
Sehrawat even spoke about the first practice session where it was challenging for her to catch the ball given how clear the sky was.
"I still remember the first practice session in Australia. We were doing high catching and the sky there was a little too clear so it was getting a bit hard to judge where the ball actually was. The ball was not travelling too much, so it took us a bit of time to adjust to those conditions. We also got to spend some time and share experiences with a few Australian players as well. We were able to have a few chats with Australian all-rounder Tess Flintoff and wicketkeeper-batter Nicole Faltum," she mentioned.
One of the challenging parts of the multi-format series against Australia was the unofficial Test match, which for Seherawat was the most efficient way to learn about how the red ball functions on the bouncy pitch."I got to learn more about the red ball on this tour. A red ball is usually on the heavier side and it turns and swings more compared to the white ball, so one has to adjust their game according to that. The intent remains the same, but one needs to adjust a bit while playing in the longest format. We got the opportunity to learn about how we should approach the game and build more partnerships, I got to learn," Sehrawat explained.
With the two seasons of WPL under her belt, the Delhi batter is aware of the chances she has received from UP. She also thanked coach Jon Lewis and captain Alyssa Healy for having her back. "I consider myself lucky that I got the opportunity to play in the domestic league this early in my career and I have received a lot of support from our franchise. As cricketers, we face ups and downs and they have been by our side in all of that time. I think, Jon Lewis has been a great influence. I enjoy working with him. His way of cricket is aggressive. Whether it is batting, bowling, or even fielding, he pushes us to become aggressive considering what the situation is. Alyssa is calm on and off the field. I remember during the season, misfielding happened from my side and it did cost us two runs. At that time, she spoke with me and said you can do better. We know you can do that. I appreciated that support and I fielded better after that."
With the women's U23 T20 Trophy coming soon, followed by the third installation of WPL, the youngster hopes to convert all of her off-season hard yards into runs. "Whatever problems I faced in the previous seasons, and the feedback I have gotten from there, I have tried to work hard on solving them in the off-season. I have worked on them through open nets and match simulations and I hope it helps me," she signed off.