On 24th September 2007, MS Dhoni led India to lift the World T20 Championships trophy in Johannesburg. While the Men in Blue were celebrating a close victory against rivals Pakistan, a 9-year-old girl had just experienced the moment in her life on a television screen back home in Hyderabad. Fast-forward eleven years, this young lady- Arundhati Reddy- was in the Indian women’s team that reached the finals of the 2020 T20 World Championships in Australia. In this blog, we will learn about Arundhati Reddy’s cricket journey, playing style, family, etc.

Arundhati Reddy Biography

Early Days

Arundhati Reddy was born in Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh at the time. From the start, she was very good at her studies—she was one of the best in her school.

In her free time, Arundhati used to play cricket with her brother, Rohit Reddy, and his friends. Back then, she wore short hair. Everybody else thought she was a boy since she dressed up like one. Soon, compliments started dropping in, and people suggested that she consider cricket.

In 2007, an 11-year-old Arundhati used to stay late, not to study, but rather to watch India’s World T20 Championship matches held in South Africa. India won the title and gave birth to the MSD era. Back in Hyderabad, it gave birth to dreams of professional cricket for Arundhati. What started as a source of recreation soon turned out to be a serious affair, with the youngster taking the sport passionately. Arundhati then spoke with her mother- Bhagya Reddy, who let her child’s dream take flight. Her mother spoke to Arundhati’s cousin, who used to play professionally.

Arundhati Reddy Career

Arundhati joined the same academy and started training. Despite bowling well, Arundhati wanted to keep wicket, as Rahul Dravid, a part-time Indian wicket-keeper, inspired her. However, she had other plans,

“When I started off, I used to idolise Rahul Dravid sir. I wanted to be a wicket-keeper actually. Even when I went to my coaching camp, the first thing my coach asked me to do was to bowl. He liked my bowling, and then he told me that he wants me to improve as a bowler, a fast bowler.”

“But then my head was all into keeping, and I was not really interested in bowling. So after a few weeks, I spoke to my coach about it, and he said that if I want to keep, then I don’t need to come and attend his camp from the next day. Otherwise, probably I would have been a wicketkeeper (laughs),” Arundhati said in an interview.

After a couple of months in the academy, her coach sent her to the Women’s Summer Camp organised by the Hyderabad Cricket Academy. Arundhati was so good that she was directly sent to the U-19 team.

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Domestic Cricket

At the HCA, she came under Savita Nirala- the head coach of the women’s team. This move was very important for Reddy, as Nirala would go on to have a significant influence on the young prodigy. At HCA, Reddy started getting more engrossed in bowling than batting.

Due to her lean build and low centre of gravity, she was quick and agile. Nirala sensed this opportunity and groomed Reddy into an all-rounder inclined towards the right-arm fast bowler. Arundhati was employed with Southern Railways as a junior clerk, whom she also represented on the sporting front.

There, she got acquainted with Nooshin Al Khadeer, the then Railways’ cricket coach, who also deeply impacted her career.

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T20I Career

In August 2018, while practising for a local tournament, Reddy’s friend informed her about the Indian team’s call-up for the Women’s T20 matches against Sri Lanka.

 “Honestly, I didn’t really expect the call. I was practising, and that’s when my friends called and told me the news. I just celebrated the occasion by having dinner with my family and friends, who were already there by the time I reached home,” she said after the call-up.

On her debut, Arundhati had an eventful bowling performance as she took the all-important wicket of a well-set B Mendes. On the other hand, though, she had conceded 37 runs in 3 overs. Her performance was eclipsed by that of Poonam Yadav, who had scalped four wickets for 26 runs in 4 overs to help India win.

Arundhati rose to the occasion in the 3rd T20, displaying an all-around performance. She first scalped two crucial wickets of Mendes and H Siriwardene before displaying her fielding prowess by taking a catch and inflicting a run out on MK Dilhari.

On 28th September, Arundhati Reddy was declared to be donning the Indian jersey at the 2018 ICC Women’s World Cup in West Indies. The news came on the same day when another fast bowler and veteran, Jhulan Goswami, announced her retirement. Naturally, people started to term her the next Goswami.

After a dismissive 2018 T20 World Championships campaign, Reddy returned with four wickets in 3 T20Is during the tour of New Zealand. Arundhati has gone on to cement her spot in the Indian Women’s squad for the 2020 T20 World Championships in Australia.

In May 2021, Reddy was named in India’s Test squad for their one-off match against the England women’s cricket team.

2020 World T20 Championships

The BCCI named Arundhati Reddy in a young and talented 15-member squad for the T20 World Championships in Australia. In the first match, a repeat of the final group game and finals, which India then lost, Arundhati showed some economical bowling as Poonam Yadav and Shikha Pandey helped India win by 17 runs.

In the following match against Bangladesh, Reddy and the Indian bowling attack defended off 142. Reddy picked the wickets of Murshida Khatun and Fargana Hoque and led the Indian women to a second consecutive victory.

Arundhati Reddy Career Stats

• Bowling

• Batting & Fielding

Playing style

Arundhati Reddy is known for her explosive pace and speedy deliveries. She can swing in both directions with equal skill and can eventually produce deadly bouncers. Although her batting remains untested, she can also prove to be a helpful fielder.

Arundhati Reddy Family

Arundhati Reddy was born in Hyderabad, the state capital of Telangana, on 4 October 1997. Her mother, Bhavya Reddy, is an ex-volleyball player. Arundhati has repeatedly asserted her mother’s immense support for her success.

Instead of restricting her daughter from cricket and summoning her to focus on academics, Bhagya did the exact opposite of it. She encouraged Arundhati to fully concentrate on the sport even if it meant her studies would take a hit. Acknowledging this, Arundhati recently said,

“I was very good at my studies, but after I started playing professionally, my marks slipped. But not once did my mother push me to score better than other students. She has been very supportive.”

Bhagya would play a doting mother for her ever since she started playing professionally. Each morning, she would wake Arundhati at 4 am and accompany her to the training ground. After that, Bhagya would quickly return home, cook food, and take Arundhati to school. After school, she would drop her daughter to another practice session and only return home by 9 pm. There was a reason for Bhagya’s immense support to Arundhati. She was a budding volleyball player at the time but couldn’t play any further due to financial constraints.

She did not want to see her daughter face a similar fate. Arundhati once said that her mother “saw herself in me.” She also has a brother named Rohit Reddy, with whom she started to play cricket in her heydays.

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Arundhati Reddy Unknown Facts

• Arundhati Reddy was born in a ‘cricket-crazy family’.
• She follows Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling quite closely and idolises Rahul Dravid.
• Her mother is an ex-volleyball player.
• Arundhati Reddy was appointed as a junior clerk at Southern Railways.
• The BCCI awarded Arundhati Reddy with the Grade C contract (₹10 Lakhs per annum) in 2019-20 for her exploits with the Indian National Women’s team.