HYDERABAD: Fast and furious is Shabnamis the mantra of life. The 15-year-old leader of Visakhapatnam was only able to play two games in the U-19 T20 World Cup, which India won, but the tall and well-built teenager has all the qualities to become a world-class player.
Until 2021, she was playing at district level, but things have changed this season. She represented the state for the first time in the 2021-22 season and captured the imagination with her ability to play at 110 km/h. She was drafted into the India U-19 squad for the New Zealand home series and soon found a place in the World Cup squad – at 15 she was one of the youngest in the game. Indian team. Shabnam now reaches 116 km/h and with experience, she is bound to become a better player.
Cricket runs in his blood as his father, who is one of the main firefighters at INS Kalinga, is also a fast bowler who plays club cricket. Shabnam’s younger sister Begum Shahjahan is a U-15 Andhra player.
In fact, Shabnam was drawn to the game by watching her father play. “My daughter once told her dad she wanted to play cricket and he was more than happy to hear it. We joined her at the Nagaraju Academyand she was then eight years old”, her mother K Eswaramma, who works in the Navy, told ToI. That was in 2015 and since then Shabnam has been climbing stairs regularly.
Md Shakil played a key role in the growth of Shabnam. “He guides her in all areas. He watches her matches and after she returns home, he points out the mistakes she has made and then helps her rectify those mistakes,” Eswaramma said.
There were challenges for the interfaith couple to overcome. “We were asked about our decision to put the girls into the sport as they said there was no future for the girls and instead they should be educated and get jobs. But my husband was firm in his decision When the girls first started playing there were very few opportunities for them in cricket but things have started to improve in recent years But there is still a lot to do to get more girls into the sport,” she said.
“We wanted them to be healthy and active and that was the motivation to get them into sport. We thought it would be good for the girls to be active, and playing sport will also help them be more focused and develop qualities that will help later in life. We never thought that the girls would one day become professional cricketers,” she added.
The biggest challenge now for Shabnam is her Class X exams. “She has a camp coming up and I don’t know how it will go. We have to see if she can pass her board exams. goal now and his studies can wait,” the mother said.
Until 2021, she was playing at district level, but things have changed this season. She represented the state for the first time in the 2021-22 season and captured the imagination with her ability to play at 110 km/h. She was drafted into the India U-19 squad for the New Zealand home series and soon found a place in the World Cup squad – at 15 she was one of the youngest in the game. Indian team. Shabnam now reaches 116 km/h and with experience, she is bound to become a better player.
Cricket runs in his blood as his father, who is one of the main firefighters at INS Kalinga, is also a fast bowler who plays club cricket. Shabnam’s younger sister Begum Shahjahan is a U-15 Andhra player.
In fact, Shabnam was drawn to the game by watching her father play. “My daughter once told her dad she wanted to play cricket and he was more than happy to hear it. We joined her at the Nagaraju Academyand she was then eight years old”, her mother K Eswaramma, who works in the Navy, told ToI. That was in 2015 and since then Shabnam has been climbing stairs regularly.
Md Shakil played a key role in the growth of Shabnam. “He guides her in all areas. He watches her matches and after she returns home, he points out the mistakes she has made and then helps her rectify those mistakes,” Eswaramma said.
There were challenges for the interfaith couple to overcome. “We were asked about our decision to put the girls into the sport as they said there was no future for the girls and instead they should be educated and get jobs. But my husband was firm in his decision When the girls first started playing there were very few opportunities for them in cricket but things have started to improve in recent years But there is still a lot to do to get more girls into the sport,” she said.
“We wanted them to be healthy and active and that was the motivation to get them into sport. We thought it would be good for the girls to be active, and playing sport will also help them be more focused and develop qualities that will help later in life. We never thought that the girls would one day become professional cricketers,” she added.
The biggest challenge now for Shabnam is her Class X exams. “She has a camp coming up and I don’t know how it will go. We have to see if she can pass her board exams. goal now and his studies can wait,” the mother said.
