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Women's T20 World Cup: In-form spinner Radha Yadav wants her dad to give up selling vegetables

She wants me to stay with her in Baroda but I can’t sit idle. My shop is my purpose of life, but my daughter feels that I have worked really hard for the family and now I should take it easy." says Omprakash Yadav, the father of Radha Yadav.

Womens T20 World Cup: In-form spinner Radha Yadav wants her dad to give up selling vegetables
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By

Suhrid Barua

Published: 7 March 2020 11:59 AM GMT

For many years, life has been a low-key, routine affair for the Omprakash Yadav menage – in fact, the struggles of this household have been far too many - a grocery-cum-vegetable store tucked away outside a Slum Redevelopment Authority in has become the cynosure of all eyes simply because Omprakash Yadav and his family is experiencing never-before-seen happiness – his youngest daughter Radha Yadav (she has one elder sister and two elder brothers) has not just made their family but also the country proud, playing a pivotal role in the Indian women cricket team’s impressive T20 World Cup campaign in Australia.

The 19-year-old left-arm spinner snared a career-best 4-23 to shape up India’s clinical win over Sri Lanka in the final league tie – she even dished out a fine an all-round effort in the team’s win over New Zealand after warming the reserve bench for the first two games against Australia and Bangladesh.

The 19-year-old left-arm spinner snared a career-best 4-23 to shape up India’s clinical win over Sri Lanka in the final league tie (Image: Twitter/ ICC)

Originally hailing from Jaunpur pocket of Uttar Pradesh, Omprakash Yadav shifted to Mumbai in pursuit of a better living in 1989 – he started selling milk from a makeshift stall on a footpath outside the family’s house in the suburb of Kandivali and subsequently started selling vegetables, and some grocery items, at his milk stall which gradually transformed into a general store now named Yadav General Store. And this shop has been packed with visitors after Radha’s fine showing in the ongoing T20 World Cup.

The year 2013 panned out to be crucial for Radha – Mumbai-based coach Praful Naik spotted her playing tennis ball cricket with a bunch of boys in her locality. “One day, Praful Naik came to my shop and asked me about Radha who was playing in our locality with a group of boys. At first sight, I politely asked him if the gentleman was hurt by the cricket ball since my daughter and other boys were playing cricket but he said he was not fine and only wanted to know if he could train Radha and needed my permission. I told him I don’t have the means to support her cricket aspirations but Praful insisted that I should not worry about the financial part and that’s how Radha’s cricket coaching took off,” recalls Radha’s father Omprakash Yadav bubbling with excitement.

Naik shouldered the responsibility to financially support Radha’s cricketing ambitions and played a role in shifting her from her first school - Anandibai Damodar Kale Vidyalaya to Our Lady of Remedy High School, where Naik was the coach at that time. Radha made an immediate impact playing a big role in Our Lady of Remedy High School winning the inter-school championship that year. The cricketer was summoned to the Mumbai Under-19 squad in the same year.

Radha shifted from Mumbai to Baroda in 2016, when her coach Praful Naik also shifted to that city with his family and kickstarted an academy – she used to live with her coach’s family, and train at his academy. But for the Omprakash Yadav family, Radha’s move to Baroda worked for wonders – she was named the Baroda Under-19 team in 2017 and under her leadership Baroda became the West Zone champions. She was subsequently named captain of Baroda Under-23 team in 2018 and captain of Baroda senior team before she got into the national probables on the back of her strong domestic performances and made her T20 international debut against South Africa in February 2018.

The senior Yadav conceded that he was a tad perturbed to see Radha not play in the first two games “It’s only natural I was disappointed but not angry as the team’s best interests are more important. The way she played against New Zealand and Sri Lanka gave us some joy I can’t express in words – the kind of happiness our family has never seen,” gushes the cricketer’s father.

Radha’s father was categorical that Radha is an all-rounder and can bat. “She bats lower down the order at the moment but if she gets a chance to bat in the middle-order I have no doubts that Radha will offer meaningful contributions with the bat - she has scored so many runs for the Baroda team across various age-group teams. She regularly calls me from Australia and always asks him if I am having my food on time and resting adequately,” reveals Omprakash.

He revealed that Radhav wants to give up selling vegetables. “She wants me to stay with her in Baroda but I can’t sit idle. My shop is my purpose of life, but my daughter feels that I have worked really hard for the family and now I should take it easy, but I’m happy to be busy with running my shop in Mumbai,” he says with a tinge of innocence.

Geeta Gaikwad, the Chairman of the Baroda Women Cricket Selection Committee, who has closely seen Radha grow through the ranks, offers her take on the youngster. “When I first saw Radha for the first time in the nets in 2016 when she had just moved to Baroda, I was very impressed with her body language - she exuded loads of positive energy. I knew then she will be a very good cricketer if groomed properly. All I can say is she is a born cricketer – she is not just a bowler but a proper batsman, who has scored runs in the domestic circuit besides being an aggressive fielder.”

The former women cricketer was almost reduced to tears when she once visited Radha’s home in Mumbai. “Once the Baroda under-23 team was in Mumbai, Radha insisted that I along with the team visit her Mumbai home. Trust me, I was literally in tears when we dropped by. I have tried to support in whatever way I can and even took her weak family background case in front of the Baroda Cricket Association, who has also helped to further her cricketing desires,” she says with a tinge of emotion.

One hopes that Radha can play her part in Indian eves cap off their maiden T20 World Cup triumph. “Many mediapersons have assured that they will come to my house on Sunday to watch the final against Australia. We are offering our prayers that Indian women corner glory at Melbourne,” signs off Ompraskash.

Also Read: Can Harmanpreet Kaur pull off a Dhoni in the finals?

Also Read: What would an Indian win at MCG mean for women’s cricket back home?

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