Pooja Vastrakar is one of the most promising Indian women cricketers who have become a star attraction in the ongoing ICC Women World Cup. She is hailed as one of the most flamboyant batter and an audacious bowler who have the ability to change the course of the game entirely on their own. In has overcome a lot of injuries and setbacks to make a mark for herself in international cricket. ‘Babulal’, to her teammates, is her pet name.
Early struggles made her resilient
Pooja’s story is nothing less of a miracle. Her mother died when she was ten years old. She has four sisters and two brothers and is the youngest of the seven siblings. It all began when she watched her favourite batsman Virender Sehwag on television. A lot of people around her ridiculed her when started playing cricket as a kid with boys in the neighbourhood. Her coach Ashutosh Shrivastava discovered her talent and started her formal training.
She started as a batter and later switched to bowling. In 2016, while Vastrakar was fielding during a senior women’s domestic match, she twisted her knee which put her national call-up in jeopardy.
Even though disappointment was natural, she wouldn’t sweat over the turn of events. Motivational videos of speaker Sandeep Maheshwari and Olympians on YouTube and Facebook would pull her up.
Her role models encouraged her to break boundaries
Pooja Vastrakar likes Glenn McGrath a lot for his bowling style and especially his outswing bowling. Jhulan Goswami is also her role model for her consistency. She wants to follow her path and become like her.
Her fans say that Pooja can do everything, and she’s good at everything. She wants to see herself as an allrounder. The one who excels in all three departments – a potent quick in the making, a swashbuckling batsman, and also a livewire on the field.