Just as India continues to revel in all-rounder Harmanpreet Kaur’s jaw-dropping assault on the Australian bowlers on Thursday in the Women’s World Cup semi-final, it would come as a surprise that the 28-year-old once considered quitting the game.
It was the timely intervention of former India skipper and Indian Railways employee Diana Edulji, who persuaded the Moga-born cricketer to move to Mumbai, and batting legend Sachin Tendulkar’s push that saw Kaur enter the best phase of her career.
Edulji, currently a member of the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, recalled the tribulations she underwent in an attempt to bring Harmanpreet to India’s cricketing headquarters.
“She was getting a junior-class [job] in Northern Railway,” Edulji was quoted as saying by Indian Express. “I offered her a chief office superintendent post. Her application was later sent to Delhi, but was rejected by the president.”
The 61-year-old said that she had then contacted Tendulkar, a Rajya Sabha member, to take up Kaur’s case. The batting maestro agreed to write a letter requesting Kaur to be allowed to shift base to the Western Railway in Mumbai.
Kaur’s blistering unbeaten 171 off 115 balls against Australia elevated her status to dizzy heights, earning widespread praise from all quarters. Edulji also opined that the cricketing climate in the country has undergone a change in the recent past, especially the financial side of things. Women cricketers, whose efforts were largely relegated to sidelines, can now make a living by playing the sport.
“Last time when I travelled to England as a manager we were given £25 per day. Girls used to get packed food from the supermarket nearby, boil it and eat it. At least now things have started to change,” Edulji said.
