The rise of Titas Sadhu in world cricket

Fast bowler Titas Sadhu bowled a dream spell of 3-6 in the Asian Games final against Sri Lanka to help India win the gold medal.

“Who is Titas Sadhu? Where has she come from?” are the questions on everyone’s lips after the fast bowler almost single-handedly wrecked the Sri Lankan batting unit. She took three wickets and gave away just six runs in her fiery spell in the women’s cricket final of the Asian Games held at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field stadium.

Her bowling proved to be the backbone which allowed India to defend their low score of 116/7 by 19 runs and claim their second gold medal of the ongoing Asiad. Even though the target of 117 didn’t exactly look threatening after India had decided to bat first, the early introduction of Titas changed the game in favour of the Women in Blue.

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who had returned to the side following her suspension after violating the ICC Code of Conduct, gave the ball to the youngster after off-spinner Deepti Sharma and pacer Pooja Vastrakar conceded 13 runs in the first two overs of the Sri Lankan chase.

That is when the 18-year-old from West Bengal arrived to the picture. Much like her idol Jhulan Goswami before her, Titas made a quick impact. Her double-wicket maiden first over left Sri Lanka speechless. Both Anushka Sanjeewani and Vishmi Gunaratne were clueless against her fiery pace and ended up losing their wickets.

Pegged on the back seat, Titas returned to catch the big fish in Chamari Athapaththu. The Sri Lankan captain chipped one back of a length delivery outside the off stump straight to Deepti Sharma at extra cover. Athapaththu represented the gravest danger to India’s chances and with her back in the pavillion, the team could breathe a sigh of relief.

The teenager could’ve even had a fourth had Amanjot Kaur not dropped a sharp chance at backward point provided by Nilakshi de Silva. Despite that, she finished with figures of 3-1-2-3 and has made it clear that she is here to stay at this level of cricket.

Cricket wasn’t the first choice for young Titas. She had wanted to be a swimmer and even practised in track and field events at the Rajendra Smriti Sangha academy in Chinsurah, 40 kms north of Kolkata.

However, it was when she doubled up as a scorer at the stadium that she fell in love with cricket at the age of 13.

At 16, she was selected for the Bengal squad in the 2020-21 season post Covid-19 pandemic. Having impressed head coach Shib Shankar Paul in a training session, her first outing couldn’t have gone any worse. Against Uttarkhand, she began proceedings with a wide that went to the boundary and was extremely underwhelming. As a result, she was dropped after just two games.

This is where she went back to the drawing board and tried to reinvent herself. She rediscovered her footing once again in the inter-district matches and CAB-affiliated tournaments and worked her way back to the top.

It was on the back of those performances as well as those for Bengal in the BCCI Senior Women’s T20 Trophy that she was selected for the Indian side for the U19 Women’s World Cup this year. She dazzled in that tournament, picking up six wickets, including two in the final against England and won the player of the final award.

The Asian Games final performance is a clear sign that Titas Sadhu, although still only 18, is meant for the big stages. She has a long way to go but hopefully, will be able to follow in the footsteps of her idol, the Chakdaha Express, Jhulan Goswami.

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