From getting dismissed by long-time friend Jemimah Rodrigues on 99 to making Test debut, it has been a seamless transition from domestic to international cricket for Karnataka’s Shubha Satheesh who shone with the bat on the first day of India Women’s one-off Test against England in Navi Mumbai on Thursday. It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks or so for the 24-year-old from Mysore, who began playing at the age of 12 without any specific aim of becoming an India cricketer. But the journey, which she terms as a ‘process’, took another 12 years before she found herself donning the Indian Test cap.
In a span of one week, Shubha has got a call-up from the Royal Challengers Bangalore for the Women’s Premier League besides making her Test debut. She also became the 12th Indian batter to have scored a fifty on debut.
Her innings eventually ended at 69 off 76 balls with the help of 13 fours, an aggressive knock to say the least, but it did not surprise her mentor Rajath Sathish back home in Mysore.
“From the start, she has been a confident girl. Every time she goes to bat, she plays aggressively,” Sathish told PTI on Thursday.
“She started cricket in the 2014-15 batch. From there onwards, after three-four years, she played for Karnataka under-19 and under-23 and (then the) senior team,” he added.
Sathish revealed that in Mysore cricket circles, Shubha is fondly known as ‘Dada’, which is nothing related to former India captain Sourav Ganguly but is associated with the late Kannada movie actor Vishnuvardhan.
“We call her ‘Dada’ in Mysore. She used to follow Vishnuvardhan, the film actor. (In fact) her role model is Vishnuvardhan,” he said.
Shubha’s father, who is now retired having worked at Bharat Earth Movers Limited, could have attended her debut game if it happened in Karnataka, her mentor said.
“Her father was also a tennis-ball player during his time. He used to come to our academy and for two or three years he would guide her regarding her batting,” Sathish said.
The left-handed batter is known as a consistent performer in domestic cricket. Shubha finished fourth in the 2021 Women’s Senior One-Day Trophy 2020-21 with 346 runs in six matches at 86.50, including four fifties.
She made 263 runs in seven matches with three fifties at 43.83 in the same competition in the next season.
“It has been quite a journey for me, I have been in domestic cricket for 6-7 years now. Getting an India call-up was living in a dream sort of thing,” Shubha told the media here after the first day’s play.
Sathish said Shubha’s knock of 99 during an intra-squad match in the Indian training camp in Bengaluru, ahead of the home season, proved crucial for her selection in the Test team.
“India and India A played a practice match in Bangalore. She scored 99 in first innings and got out to Jemima,” Sathish recalled, adding that Shubha is also a brilliant fielder.
Former India captain Shantha Rangaswamy was mighty impressed with the way Shubha showcased her skills and temperament at the highest level, after doing so in the domestic circuit.
“She got 99, I suppose that is when she got the attention of the selectors,” Rangaswamy told PTI.
“It is difficult to make an entry (into the team) when you have established players. That knock, her temperament and the fact that she has runs under the belt helped her cause,” she added.
The former India player also highlighted the need of having more red-ball teams for the players to harness their skills.
“You can only cultivate good technique by playing long formats and it is ironical (that) they (India Women’s) hardly get to play red-ball cricket, but look at their Test performances in the last few years — they have done miraculously well,” Rangaswamy said.
“It means that the mindset and talent are there and it is only the opportunity that is lacking,” she added.
Shubha’s exploits with the bat in her maiden Test innings also made the legendary Mithali Raj take notice.
“Very impressed by this left-hander. Shubha Satheesh, playing her first match for India today, has demonstrated excellent composure and temperament at the crease. Looking forward to more such innings from her, well played,” she wrote on X.
(This story has not been edited by The Hindkesharistaff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article