In the 2016 Bollywood superhit Dangal, the lead actor Aamir Khan, playing Mahavir Singh Phogat, in reference to his two daughters Geeta and Babita says, “Mhaari chhoriya chhoron se kam hai ke? (my girls are no less than boys). This is a line India women’s cricketer Radha Yadav’s family has lived by over the years. And on Sunday, by helping Team India clinch its first ever Women’s World Cup, Radha once again reinforced her family’s thinking. “Radha [25] is the youngest in our family, but we always knew that she is the most talented and capable. And now, she has proved it to the world by becoming a world champion,” Monu Yadav, 32, Radha’s elder brother told mid-day on Monday.
“Radha started playing cricket with us as a little kid at our home here [in Kandivli] and my elder brother Deepak [37] and myself would constantly bowl or bat to keep her occupied. Even our younger sister Soni [28] would join in. Then, Radha started playing with our friends, all boys, and she was good. That’s when we decided to get her into cricket coaching and the rest as they say is history. We always knew our chhori is much better than boys,” added Monu, who along with the entire Yadav family was a keen spectator at the DY Patil Stadium on Sunday, where India beat South Africa by 52 runs in the summit clash.
Radha Yadav. Pic/PTI
Born in Mumbai, Radha moved base to Baroda in the 2014-15 season and has excelled in competitions ranging from the U-19 West Zone to the Senior women’s tournaments for the country. She has played 14 ODIs and 89 T20Is, picking 13 and 103 wickets respectively. She took an impressive 3-30 in the World Cup league match against Bangladesh and then dismissed Australian super star Ellyse Perry in the epic semi-final win. She’s a brilliant fielder too and refuses to buckle under pressure. “Radha is not one to feel any pressure. She’s very determined and gritty. On the eve of the final, we [family members] were a bundle of nerves, but she was cool. She simply said, ‘don’t worry, we will do our best.’ And the entire team did just that,” added Monu.
Clearly pressure doesn’t rattle Radha. Even when the Indian women were not in a strong position in the final as South Africa skipper and centurion Laura Wolvaardt (101 runs) was batting brilliantly during the chase, Radha insisted that she was cool.
“Yes, they [South Africa] were scoring the runs [during the chase] but, as a team we were calm, because we had failed in three matches before [India lost to South Africa, Australia and England in the league phase], so we knew exactly how to turn things around. Some tight bowling and fielding eventually did it for us,” Radha told reporters on Sunday night.