FOR Aman (Amanjot Kaur), she is like oxygen. They are like oxygen for each other,” says Bhupinder Singh, referring to the bond his daughter shares with her Dadiji (paternal grandmother), Bhagwanti. On a hot Sunday morning, Bhupinder — sitting alongside his younger daughter Kamaljot in the living room of their house in Phase V, Mohali — is trying to explain the special relationship the Indian all-rounder and her grandmother share.
It is in this neighbourhood where the story of Amanjot and Bhagwanti, and the 25-year-old’s cricketing dream began. Right in front of the house is a park where Amanjot used to play gully cricket with the boys in the neighbourhood. In the initial days, neighbours came and spoke with Bhupinder, saying that he should stop his daughter.
That is when Bhagwanti took things into her hands. Whenever Amanjot went to play, her Dadiji accompanied her and sat on the park bench, watching over her granddaughter so that no one would come and complain. This allowed Amanjot to play cricket and enjoy the sport, sowing the early seeds for her dream — to play for India in a World Cup. That dream is now on the verge of coming true.
The special journey that started in the neighbourhood park in Mohali continues to date, as Bhagwanti keeps a close eye on Amanjot every time she plays. When the Punjab all-rounder made her T20I debut in South Africa two years ago, the grandmother kept asking where Amanjot was, instructing the family to show her when she came on screen. “I was afraid that she might not get a game, and it was late at night. So, I told her that the match would come on TV tomorrow and asked her to sleep. But around 11, she saw that the lights were on and asked us what was going on as we were watching the match. Aman was playing as well, so she sat down and enjoyed the entire match with us,” Bhupinder had said at the time.
Whenever Amanjot is on tour or away from home, her family shows her highlights of her old matches to keep her happy. “It is almost as if watching Aman makes her feel happy and better. They are like this (gestures by holding both her hands tightly together. They are attached that if something happens to Dadiji, Aman gets that intuition and she just calls directly and wants to talk to her,” says Amanjot's younger sister Kamaljot.
It may sound like an exaggeration, but the family swears it isn’t. During Amanjot’s rehab in Bengaluru last year, Bhagwanti had some health issues and had to be hospitalised. And the family hadn't told her just yet. “Suddenly, we were just getting a video call at night around 11 PM, and she knew that everyone would be sleeping at that time. But on that day, she just called and told me that I just needed to speak to Dadiji. We were sitting in the hospital. Everyone was like 'What should we tell her now?,' So, my father just handled everything and told her that she is doing fine now. “She said okay, but we noticed that the next morning at 7.30 AM she was at home. She was like, ‘I just can't stay there, I was getting anxious. I just want to meet her. She knows that if she meets Dadiji once, she will be alright. She just met her, and Dadiji was very happy. The doctor even said that reports are getting better, and soon after that, she just got discharged from the hospital,” recalls Kamaljot.
The same goes for Bhagwanti as well. When she was not feeling well recently, all she would ask the family was to speak with Amanjot. “She is like, ‘I will not speak to anyone else in the home. I just want to talk to her. Her World Cup matches are there; she should play well. Everyone should support her. I will be watching her match from home on TV. Then, after the matches, I will talk to her. Then I will ask her how her experience was because she always wanted to play the World Cup for India,” Kamaljot explains.
The World Cup dream is something Amanjot has had on her vision board and journals for years. She used to have posters in the wall saying, 'Aman will play in the World Cup, representing India. But reaching this point took hard work and sacrifice from her and her family. In her first two years under coach Nagesh Gupta, Bhupinder used to drop her off at 5 a.m., sleep in a Gurudwara till it's over, bring her back home and then go about his carpentry work. The routine used to continue in the evening as well. The financial burden, too, was immense.
Amanjot, at a very young age, was aware of the family situation. So much so that she would never tell people at home if she got injured on the cricket field, or when she met with a bike accident. “She used to call me, and I would wait with the ice packs at the door. She would come in like normal, and by the time father came home, she would be asleep because she was tired. Then, once everyone is asleep, she will get the ice packs again if the pain comes back,” laughs Kamaljot.
Such was her craze for the sport that studies often took a backseat. Amanjot was clear that she wanted to play. The family, too, made peace with it and even helped her do what she wanted. In Class XII, she had an exam scheduled on the same day she was to leave with the team for Delhi. Bhupider waited in front of the school, picked her up as soon as she came out, went back home, took her luggage and dropped her at the bus stand, where he had asked the driver to wait for an extra ten minutes. “I think she wrote enough just to pass and came off,” Bhupinder laughs.
Over the years, Amanjot made rapid strides with the blessings of her grandmother and the support of Coach Nagesh and her family. She made her India debut in 2023. The fast bowling all-rounder went on to be a part of the Mumbai Indians franchise that won two Women’s Premier League titles and became a regular in the side.
Life has changed off the field, too. Today, Amanjot is taking care of her family, ensuring her father does not have to work as much as he used to. Bhupinder has cut down on his carpentry work a fair bit, but still takes jobs for people he knows. “It's our job. If we leave the work, then the body will not be good. If we keep it somewhat busy, it's okay. I don't work much, but I do whatever I can,” he says, before adding, "Today, Aman takes care of the whole house. I am so proud that I cannot even begin to describe it. Earlier, there was so much struggle and pressure every time I went to work. She has taken all the load off my mind. Now, when I leave the house, I don't have to worry about anything on my mind. She takes care of all the problems. She doesn't even tell me anything. She does everything on her own.”
As she gears up to play her first World Cup, the road to this point in the last 18 months has not been easy. She missed eight months of cricket in 2024 before making a comeback this year. And when she did, Amanjot was an upgraded version of herself. Determined to become a match-winner for India, Amanjot poured all her energy towards upskilling herself, and that was visible in Sri Lanka and England. Though she missed the Australia series due to injury, the team management knows how crucial she is for them in the World Cup, and she even batted in the second warm-up game against New Zealand.
Till now, Bhagwanti or Amanjot’s parents have not watched her play from the ground. Kamaljot has travelled for WPL games in Lucknow and will also travel for the World Cup. “Having been a part of her journey, I have seen her just talking to me, saying, ‘I will represent India. I will be playing in the World Cup. You all will come to see my matches’. That time is right now. It has finally come. She is living her dream at the moment,” says an elated Kamaljot.
And when Amanjot walks out in India colours during the World Cup, her biggest cheerleader, Bhagwanti, who once kept an eye on her from a park bench, will be watching her granddaughter live the dream right where it all began