As Titas Sadhu received her cheque for being the player-of-the-match on Friday night, her teammates started chanting, “ Teen lakh ki party” from one corner of the DY Patil Stadium.
Titas, who shone bright in the first T20I against Australia, smiled and rushed towards Smriti Mandhana, as soon as the presentation ceremony got over. The chants of ‘ Teen lakh ki party’ continued even as she started speaking to her mentor and former India captain Jhulan Goswami. The soft-spoken Titas smiled again and explained that it was a way of celebrating her three awards, which valued Rs. 1 lakh each.
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Soon after the call with Goswami, a nonchalant Titas walked into the press conference arena, and as the dozen odd scribes congratulated her for her maiden international four-fer, Titas made it a point to personally thank each of them.
Despite achieving success in a relatively short time, she has been humble - much like her mentors Goswami and Rumeli Dhar. From being just another rookie bowler from Chinsurah in West Bengal, it has been quite a journey for the 19-year-old, but by her own admission, every journey has taught her a thing or two.
Soon after she guided India U-19 to a World Cup title in January last year, Titas earned herself a contract with Delhi Capitals in the Women’s Premier League. But in those three weeks, she had to warm the bench throughout and her routine would be to just bowl in the nets and work on her fitness. Those were challenging times for the youngster, but a conversation with the team trainer motivated her.
“Coming from that U-19 high to sit out for the whole tournament was rough. After the first couple of matches, it was clear that I probably won’t get a chance until very late (in the competition). But I had this conversation with our trainer Wayne,” she said.
Wayne told her that in the IPL, there are 25 players and even greats sit out for two-and-a-half months.
“So, he told me that any opportunity you get, you have to make the best out of it. I think that became the key. After the first two weeks, I just went to every practice thinking I will learn as much as I can…”
And, that patience paid off as she had a rather meteoric rise over the next few months. She made her India debut at the Asian Games last September, and was part of the team for the series against England last month. However, she could actually prove her mettle against the Australian team with those four wickets.
She missed out on an opportunity to claim her maiden five-for, but for Titas, who loves to stay in the present, it was all about soaking in the moment and starting afresh for the next game.
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So far, the approach seems to have worked for her. After a not-so-memorable outing against England, Titas had single-wicket bowling stints in the nets, under the supervision of bowling coach Troy Cooley.
“What Troy does essentially is stand there (at the stumps) and move as the batter would move. I get a real-time feel of what the batter would do and keep following her. That helps as it gives a good simulation of what you have to do in the match,” she explained.
As she spoke about her bowling, Titas remembered her first conversation with mentor Goswami. “The first conversation I had with Jhulan di, she had said, ‘stop thinking about everything else and just bowl fast. If you are a fast bowler, you have to bowl fast’. I first saw her when I was 13 and since then she has been a constant presence. Working with her is a great opportunity not a lot of people have. You get that experience. How many players have played more than 100 matches for India, for 20 years?,” she said with a smile, before adding, “I am not even 20 years old!”
At 19 years and 99 days, Titas’ journey has just started. And she hopes to get better with every passing day.
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