Cricket
Shikha Pandey felicitated for her performance in the Women's T20 World Cup
India pacer Shikha Pandey, who had a brilliant run in the recently-concluded ICC Women’s T20 World Cup before failing to leave a mark in the final where India lost to Australia, was on Saturday felicitated by Air Marshal MSG Menon, Air Officer-in-Charge Administration, for her performance in the ICC T20 World Cup held at Australia this year.
Shikha had bagged seven wickets in the tournament building up to the final but failed to create an impact at the MCG in the summit clash as Australia hammered Indian bowlers all around the park to post a mammoth total of 184 runs. Eventually, the hosts won the final after bundling India for a paltry score of 99 runs.
Shikha had bagged seven wickets in the tournament building up to the final (Image: T20 World Cup)
Alyssa Healy was the wrecker-in-chief, and the Player of the Match, with her innings of 75 runs in 39 deliveries, while Beth Mooney played an unbeaten knock of 78 off 54 balls. Skipper Meg Lanning also contributed to the team’s cause with 16 in 15 balls.
Chasing the daunting target on Sunday, India never looked on course as their highest scorer of the tournament and number one T20I batswoman of the world Shafali Verma got out for two in the third delivery of the innings.
For those who don't know, academics have always been important to Pandey and had to juggle cricket and college, where she would spend her morning doing gym sessions and academic work. She did not let her focus on the game affect her academic performance. After completing her engineering degree from Goa College of Engineering in 2010, three multinational companies offered her opportunities, but she declined all these placement offers and decided to take a year off and focus on her cricketing career completely. In July 2011, she joined Indian Air Force, and in June 2012 was commissioned as an air traffic controller.
Shikha is still the first among the players of the team who have been felicitatetd. The Indian women’s cricket team created history of sorts when they made it to the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. Although they lost to hosts Australia, it was the first instance that the Indian eves had made it all the way to the last stage.
However, surprisingly, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is yet to announce any cash rewards for Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. It’s been a few days since the final happened, the team has returned back home, albeit to an empty airport with no media or fans to welcome them home.
