She came, she saw and she conquered! Versatile bowler Sneh Rana produced one of the greatest performances on her debut in women’s cricket test history, helping India out of the woods to achieve a stunning draw in the single test against England Women in Bristol. After picking four wickets with her spin-off, Rana, 27, produced an unbeaten game of 80 of 154 deliveries, versus 184 deliveries for the ninth wicket with Taniya Bhatia in what was a mind-blowing display of courage, determination, skill, and patience.
Born into a modest family in the foothills of Dehradun, Rana spent his childhood mastering tennis cricket in the village of Sinola near Dehradun. Her father was a farmer by profession and cycled 10 to 12 km every day to drop Rana off at Little Masters Cricket Academy in Dehradun, where she put her cricket skills to good use.
Rana made her limited debut for India against Sri Lanka in 2014 and played 7 ODIs and 5 T20Is for the country after two impressive seasons for Punjab in which she won 32 List A wickets. Her outstanding performance for India came against New Zealand in the first ODI at Bengaluru in 2015 when she came back with 3-26 in 9 overs helping her team defend a modest 142.
Rana missed the entire season in 2016 with a knee injury and most pundits had written her off and there were doubts about her ability to make her return to the national team. But her hard work and dedication paid off when the spinner returned with 18 wickets and was the biggest wicket-taker in the Women’s Senior One Day Trophy 2020-21 starring with the ball in the women’s title triumph. railroads. Rana came back with 18 wickets in 8 games with a brilliant 12.66 GPA and a 3.18 save rate. She also produced a high-impact performance in the final against Jharkhand in Rajkot by pocketing 3 wickets conceding just 33 runs in her 10 overs.
Significantly, she also played the role of the middle-order aggressor for the Railroads in the tournament hammering 160 points at a 123.07 hit rate with a best of 57 of 45 balls against Odisha. A former railroad captain, Rana was the captain of India’s B team of the Quadrangular T20 series, which was held in Patna in January 2020 and included India A, Bangladesh, and Thailand. Rana picked four wickets leading India B to the final.
Rana lost her father to a heart attack earlier this year, just days before being given a break from the England test team. It was her father’s dream to see his daughter return to the Indian team. The versatile had been out of the game for more than five years and last played for India in February 2016. She was not among those who offered BCCI a central contract before the England tour.
Life will change for Rana after her majestic performance that saves the match in the second set for India. Those 80 runs she’s scored, 154 deliveries she’s faced and 195 minutes she’s spent at the Bristol cricket have unearthed a new chapter in women’s cricket history for India.
Having faced so much adversity and loss, having the will, courage and strength to make a comeback and produce a performance of a lifetime shows what Rana is made of.
His father would have been so proud.
ALSO READ: IND Vs NZ WTC Final: Weather will be clear
