As 20-year-old Chandigarh cricketer Kashvee Gautam reached the team hotel after taking a five-wicket haul, including a hat-trick for North Zone against North East Zone in the BCCI Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal T20 Trophy at Lucknow, the cricketer got the news of her selection in the 16-member India A women’s team for the three-match T20I series against England starting November 29 in Mumbai. It was a day of double delight for the Chandigarh cricketer, who in 2020 had created history by bagging all the 10 wickets in an innings in BCCI Women’s U-19 One Day Trophy. “Whenever I bowl, my focus is to maintain my line and length, and wickets will come automatically. The same happened today and I focused on bowling according to my strengths. The hat-trick and the five-wicket haul have come at a right time for me this year and the selection for the India A is the cherry on the top of the cake. To play in India colours is always a memorable moment for any cricketer and I hope to give my best in the series against England A,” said Gautam who picked up the wickets of Sentilema and Kalpana off the last two balls of her first over before claiming the wicket of L Tamang off the first ball of her second over to complete the hat-trick. 🚨 NEWS 🚨India A squad for @IDFCFIRSTBank T20 series against England A announced.Details 🔽 pic.twitter.com/wthL0F1vHF— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) November 24, 2023 Elder of two sisters, a young Gautam started playing cricket at the insistence of her aunt Sunita Sharma and a young six-year-old Gautam would play gully cricket with the neighbourhood boys in Sector 37. The youngster would break into Chandigarh junior as well as senior team while in her teens. Gautam first hogged the limelight when she claimed all the 10 wickets against Arunachal Pradesh in the BCCI Women’s U-19 One Day Tournament at Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, in 2020. It also meant that she became the first Indian woman cricketer to do so. Gautam also was part of the Trailblazers in the Women’s T20 Challenge in 2020. This year has seen Gautam claiming 12 wickets and scoring a total of 112 runs for Chandigarh in the BCCI Senior Women T20 Trophy. The youngster was also part of the Indian women’s team for the ACC Emerging Women’s Asia Cup played in Bangladesh. Gautam only got to play in two matches in the tournament where most of the matches were washed out due to rain. “Last year, my form was not that good but this year’s performance in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy boosted my confidence a lot. The call-up for the Indian U-23 team too gave me a lot of confidence. Even though I did not pick any wicket in Bangladesh, wearing the Indian jersey for the first time is something I will cherish the most. We are playing against England at home and I would like to give my best against a side like England,” said Gautam. The youngster has been training under BCCI level 2 coach Nagesh Gupta and the coach believes that the youngster can be the dark horse for India A side. “She was a bit struggling with her swing last year but we worked on some of the basics. Doing that made her bowl according to her strength as well made her accurate and it helped her this year. The Senior T20 performance and this hat-trick today will help her be in good mental shape ahead of the England series and I am sure she will be amongst wicket takers against a side like England,” said Gupta.
