Madhya Pradesh left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma was on Sunday, December 21, handed her maiden India cap, as she was picked in the XI to play in the first T20I against Sri Lanka in Vizag. The match is India’s first step towards preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup, which will be played in England in June.
Vaishnavi was a member of the Indian Under-19 team that won the Women’s T20 World Cup earlier this year. She, along with G. Kamalini, also part of the U-19 team, has earned her maiden call-up to the senior team ahead of the series.
Vaishnavi finished as the leading wicket-taker at the U-19 Women’s World Cup with 17 scalps and has continued her fine form on the domestic circuit, claiming 21 wickets in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy and a tournament-high
12 from five games in the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal T20s.
Vaishnavi was born in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh and is the first player from the Chambal region to reach this level. She won the Jagmohan Dalmiya Trophy for Best Woman Cricketer in the junior domestic season in 2022–23 as well, while an NDTV report notes that she took up the sport at just five years of age.
As per an interview with BSTV MP-CG, Vaishnavi honed her skills at the Tansen Cricket Academy in Gwalior, where she put in long hours of training to reach her current level.
“Whenever she is in Gwalior, she comes to the academy where she puts in seven hours daily, three in the morning and four in the evening. I believe that she has worked hard and now she is the first from around here to play in the World Cup,” her coach had said during the U19 showpiece earlier this year.
Vaishnavi joins fellow state player Kranti Gaud, whose performances in the recent World Cup already drew wide attention.
