Asha Sobhana, who had a dream debut against the Proteas scalping 4/21, the 2nd best on debut by an Indian woman attributes the success to the ground of Bengaluru- The M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Chinnaswamy has always been a batter’s paradise and probably a death zone for the leggies but not for Asha. She feels Chinnaswamy is special to her and gives her an advantage.
Asha has been a veteran of Indian domestic cricket. She has been representing the state sides for the past 15-16 years. Knocking doors on the list of Indian probable in 2012 for the first time, She had to wait a long time to dawn the blue jersey, But the wait was worthwhile.
“Chinnaswamy, of course, is very special for me. Even before I was playing for RCB, Chinnaswamy was always special to me. From my Under-19 days, whenever I bowl here, I got some advantages,” Shobana said ahead of the second ODI here.
The 33-year-old, Asha had already shown signs of her maturity and smart bowling playing in the WPL, where she became the first Indian player to take a 5 wicket haul and yes, it was in Chinnaswamy as well.
She thanked RCB for playing a big role in preparing herself for her international debut.
“WPL and RCB played a major role in my life. It’s not easy to come and play at the international level. Playing at a crowded stadium during the WPL, the experience RCB gave me was very special to me,” she added.
When asked about how she felt after her performance against South Africa, she replied, “I wanted to do my best. South Africa is a very good side, glad we won by such a big margin (of 143 runs). We have been watching them playing, they have some great players like Kapp and Sune Luus, and getting them all out is a great achievement as a team.”
“I always stick to my basics and my strengths. That is what I did. Variations are key. Kapp is one of my favourite players,” she added further.
The four wickets included her “favourite” cricketer Marizanne Kapp, as the Proteas all-rounder was deceived by a full and widish delivery and drove straight to Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur at the cover.
“They have some of the greatest players in their team, so we cannot bowl in the same way each time or they will pick it up. We tried to vary the pace to create something and make them commit some errors,” she said.
Asha being a leg-spinner followed Anil Kumble during her childhood. She also gathered learnings from Stuart McGill and Nitu David during her childhood. But she idolises Sachin Tendulkar as every Indian cricket fan does.
Stories like Asha’s make us think that age is just a number and that with hard work and determination anything can be achieved.
