Armed with dog-fight spirit, Shreyanka Patil ready to shine in T20 WC with WPL learnings

New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) After Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) pulled off a stunning six-run win over Mumbai Indians in the 2024 Women’s Premier League (WPL) Eliminator, assistant coach Malolan Rangarajan lauded the ‘dog-fight’ spirit inside Shreyanka Patil to step up and win the game for the team with a match-turning spell of 2-16.After a day's break, Shreyanka, with her trademark pink hairband and ponytail, was at it again – taking 3-12 in the final to help RCB beat Delhi Capitals and lift its maiden WPL title in New Delhi. Quiz Shreyanka about the origins of her dog-fight spirit when on the field and the happy-go-luck all-rounder reveals it all in a conversation with IANS held earlier this month during clothing brand QUA’s shoot in New Delhi.“It comes very naturally to me. Since the time I was a kid, I didn’t like to lose. So I kind of get up and say ‘okay, I’m going to try very hard and give it everything no matter what’. So I love to have that fighting spirit with me always, and it just comes naturally," she said.

WPL 2024 was a tournament of two halves for Shreyanka - she took only two wickets in first four games held in her hometown Bengaluru, before a hand injury sidelined her for next two matches. After that, Shreyanka returned with a bang – taking a whopping 11 wickets in four matches to be the leading wicket-taker of WPL 2024 and add more sparks to RCB’s glittering trophy win."Personally for me everyone would look, and say okay she’s got the purple cap. But for me it was like the roller coaster of a ride because first half, in Bengaluru, I couldn’t perform at my best. I was just a little disappointed because I let my Bengaluru fans down and all of that, but how did that change? So I went back and Malo sir helped me with my bowling and then Smriti (Mandhana, captain) literally backed me up no matter what.

"So I’m very grateful for Smriti and the whole management who literally supported me at that time and then I could go to practice. The second half really turned out to be a good one for me, and I really enjoyed the crowd. When I came back home, it was just like thousands of people in front of my house asking for selfies.

"They were saying, ‘Madam, you really did well. You were just amazing. We loved your bowling. We loved your smile’. Listening to all these comments, I couldn’t stop smiling and it was just so amazing. The crowd and chants were there; we then went to RCB bar and café, where the crowd was packed and I really enjoyed that moment," said Shreyanka.

Largely seen as a WPL discovery, Shreyanka lit up the inaugural season in 2023, despite a disappointing run for RCB, by amassing 62 runs with the bat in seven innings and picking six wickets. She then claimed nine wickets in two matches for India A to win Emerging Women’s Asia Cup in Hong Kong, and went on to play for India in both white-ball formats.

In between, there was a stint with Guyana Amazon Warriors in Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL), where she took nine wickets in five games. Adept at bowling across different phases of a game, especially in the death overs, Shreyanka candidly admits playing two seasons of the WPL has given her a lot of learnings.

"This year when we faced that crowd in Bengaluru, it was just massive. When we get so much attention from the audience, we also think like ‘Okay, people are watching us. So we will want to do more and give our best’. It’s something which we keep doing always.

"But when you see people turning out and saying ‘Wow, they play so well’ - that’s again a plus point for all of us. Playing with someone like Ellyse Perry or Smriti Mandhana, and just being on and off the field with them, you get to learn a lot of stuff. So it’s just amazing that WPL is a platform which has really set the standards for domestic players and women cricketers."

At RCB during the WPL, Shreyanka enjoyed playing alongside Australia spin duo of Sophie Molineux and Georgia Wareham. "Even during the practice session, they were just coming and helping me out. They were asking questions as well from me. So it was two-way learning for us."

But the WPL 2024 eliminator game, where Shreyanka took the key wickets of Hayley Matthews and Harmanpreet Kaur as RCB successfully defended 135 on a slow Delhi pitch, served as a key learning for her in terms of turning a corner from any situation in a game.

"In that match, literally everyone thought RCB was going to lose. We were all smiling, just chill, not fully hyped up or something. Then Pez (Ellyse Perry) comes out running and we all came into the huddle and she’s like, ‘Just breathe. We can pull this off, we can do it’.

"Smriti also was literally pumped up. So I don’t know why we felt that very positive energy all of a sudden. Then we just won that match from nowhere. So that’s how that energy, and vibe was created (to make a turnaround)."In terms of her India career, standing at 12 T20Is and three ODIs, Shreyanka feels very grateful to have support of captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti and Jemimah Rodrigues. "They are such a nice bunch of people, and have literally supported me and stood by my side saying, ‘No matter what, we’ll just back you up’."She has also found backers through her fellow spin-bowling mates Radha Yadav, Deepti Sharma and Asha Sobhana. "Whenever we practice we talk to each other, not just during the match, but also during the practice as well. We know what the other person’s strengths are and say to each other that we’ll bowl in this and that areas. So we kind of strategise and also practice the same way."

In July, Shreyanka suffered a fracture in her finger while taking a catch in India’s Women’ s Asia Cup match against Pakistan, sidelining her from the competition in Sri Lanka. After making a successful recovery, Shreyanka attended the preparatory camp at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru before departing to play in the Women’s T20 World Cup from October 3-20 in the UAE.

She believes the Indian team is well-equipped to take up any challenge presented to them in the UAE. “We’ll have to adapt to the conditions quickly, and that’s why we’re playing warm up games and the practice sessions we’re doing there. So it’s going to help us, and I’m really looking forward for this World Cup. It’s going to be fun.”This month, six of her India team-mates secured Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) contracts. Shreyanka was also in the overseas draft, but didn’t find any takers, to which she admitted about being little disappointed. “But I know what areas I’ll have to work on. I’ll have to work on my batting and say that okay, I’m going to be the best all-rounder, and I’m going to come with a bang (in future).”

At 10, Shreyanka took to cricket at her dad Rajesh Patil’s academy, Efficient Sports, and found herself at home as an off-spin all-rounder after dabbling in medium-pace, leg-spin and even wicketkeeping. She credits her father for the support to make a career out of playing cricket and felt proud plus very special when the parents plus her coach Arjun Dev came in to watch her do well in an international game.It was an encounter with Dev in 2019 that prompted a teenaged Shreyanka to move out of her parents’ home in the main city and live in a rented home close to NICE Cricket Arena, which Dev started at Huttanahalli in 2021. The academy is now a place where Shreyanka practises and works relentlessly on her craft."For us it was like okay, you have to play India like when you’re 15, 16, 17. But when I met him, he just said ‘Give me five years and don’t think of any selection. But don’t worry about anything’. He kind of changed that mindset. At NICE, we have our own set-up and turf there. Everything we practice, it’s based on match scenarios. We do drills and everything which is there, but kind of touch upon everything.

"Suppose I am a finisher now, so what are those scenarios to practice – like five balls, ten runs. He’s changed the whole thinking process in me and is my backbone basically. Really grateful for him. He doesn’t miss any of my games literally – be it domestic or international games, league matches – he won’t miss."The practice sessions with Dev, who tracks her cricket career closely, also involve dealing with pressure, which Shreyanka calls as a good thing. "When I say pressure, it’s not like I think negative or something. I keep my stress cool under pressure because that’s what I practice during my practice sessions as well when I’m at NICE."I kind of put myself into those pressure situations - last two balls, four runs to win. How am I going to bowl? So all of that repetition in practice sessions also kind of helped me settle those nerves."This clarity and simplicity of her practice routines also reflects in Shreyanka’s pre-game routine. "Whatever I love to do, it depends on where I’m also. If I’m in Delhi, I go to some restaurant before a game, have lunch with my coach and then just discuss about the game and then just have a nap, hit the gym and then just go for the game."

Shreyanka also considers fortunate to have the support of a dear friend in Ananya Upendran, a former India A fast-bowler. Ananya, now a consultant with the DC franchise, frequently takes Shreyanka for lunch to restaurants in Bengaluru that serve Appam, which is the off-spin all-rounder’s favourite dish."She loves me, not just the cricket bit, but also for the way I am. She’s always been the support system for me. She’s always been helping, and comes up with a lot of sentences, and words, so it’s just amazing," concluded Shreyanka.