Polly Inglis: The hockey midfielder who dove her way to wicketkeeping
This isn’t the first time that Polly is joining a national squad for New Zealand. She has played for New Zealand ‘A’ in hockey. The 28-year-old wicketkeeper comes from a family of hockey players.
Published : Oct 24, 2024 19:27 IST , AHMEDABAD - 2 MINS READ
Polly Inglis was thrilled to watch her country win its first-ever World Cup in the shortest format. | Photo Credit: P.K. AJITH KUMAR
Polly Inglis got up at three in the night last Sunday to watch New Zealand play South Africa in the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup in Dubai.
She was, of course, thrilled to watch her country win its first-ever World Cup in the shortest format.
A couple of days later, she found herself with all those World Cup heroines, here in Ahmedabad.
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“It has been awesome to join the girls after what was a pretty big high,” Inglis said. “I am pretty proud of them and very excited to join the group. It is my first time with them as well, so that is even more exciting.”
This isn’t the first time though that she is joining a national squad for New Zealand. She has played for New Zealand ‘A’ in hockey. The 28-year-old wicketkeeper comes from a family of hockey players.
Her brother Hugo Inglis is a forward for New Zealand and is a two-time Commonwealth Games medallist. He had also played in the Hockey India League.
“In our backyard, I played hockey, cricket, football, and just about everything with my brothers,” said Inglis. “I love hockey, but the opportunity to go play overseas in cricket kind of made me carry on with cricket, and it proved a good decision too.”
She was a midfielder in hockey. “I was quite a diver in hockey,” she said. “I slid around a lot, didn’t have much skin on my knees, so that kind of translates to a wicketkeeper. I grew up playing with the boys and I couldn’t bowl, so they chucked me behind the stumps and that was that for the rest of my life.”
She wanted to be at the Olympics. “I played football growing up as well, I played volleyball and I just wanted to play for New Zealand and to go to the Olympics,” Inglis said. “I didn’t think that would be something I could do with cricket, but in four years’ time, hopefully, I will be there.”