Sandhya Agarwal: ‘We would carry team-mates on our back to build up strength, and lifted bricks instead of weights’

Living two minutes away from the older Nehru Stadium meant, no one frowned upon her playing with the colony boys on narrow streets. “We of course didn’t know girls played international cricket. We played for fun. Later the boys told me since I play well I should go join the Nehru stadium nets,” she recalls. Demanding facilities was out of question, when even clubs were short on finances. Her’s in fact was a predominantly kho-kho club with a star team from Madhya Pradesh, and all the ace fitness work came from the rigour of the kho kho teams.

It was literally the building blocks of India’s women’s cricket. “You know those mud teelas? Mounds formed out of repeatedly accumulated mud… Those were our gym equipment. Us and khokho girls would climb those, carrying a teammate piggy back. Then we ran rounds of the ground carrying bricks in our hands. Did crunches with feet locked into the railing for flexibility,” Sandhya says.

Indore’s famous poha would be the finish line prize for their endurance workout during the long summer vacation. “April to July, every Saturday we played a 30-40 over match and on Sunday we ran marathon (long distance) which would be 10k to 17k. At the end of it, all the kho kho and cricket coaches contributed for refreshments to give us milk and poha,” she recalls.

Train journeys till Railway minister Madhavrao Scindia commissioned teams, meant buying their own ticket, and sitting on the sleeper class bogie steps on sheets. The India call-up happened in 1984, and Sandhya had a great run of scores starting with 72 on debut against the Australians at Ahmedabad.

There was 134 and 88 n.o. at Mumbai, and 64 on her ODI debut, 107 at Cuttack and 98 at Lucknow against the Kiwis, before her first trip to England. A failure in the first Test would send her into deep self doubts before she scored a counter attacking 132 in the next Test. When the world record happened in the subsequent Test, she wasn’t aware till Diana Eduljee sent in a word.

“England used to be very windy conditions then. The 132 in the last Test had brought me satisfaction and calm. So I was racing towards 189, the world record which stood since 1925. Diana sent a message at drinks break around 165, and I remember I got it with a straight drive!” she adds.

On the verge of becoming a batting superstar, bad luck struck. “India didn’t play any Tours or international cricket for five years between 1986-91. Because of lack of finances, we didn’t play the 1988 World Cup. And I had been in great form,” she recalls sounding wretched about the missed chance of a possible title and stardom. “Five years so soon after a great debut is a long time away from action. We were a good team, you know, despite having half the facilities of other nations and no match fees.”

Like it’s true even now, parents and cricket coaches were always supportive. “Those around us always encouraged us. Even male cricketers respected us and helped with advice. But yes, at the peak of my form, there was too little international cricket.”

There’s the other regret. “I started my LLB and didn’t give final year exams because it coincided with the England tour. I never got down to finishing it. That’s the sad part and a sacrifice.”

Money, professionalism and glamour are all coming to women’s cricket now. And Sandhya believes the WPL will answer the question about India’s first ICC title. “We didn’t have these facilities. But now you’ll see an explosion in numbers playing women’s cricket. I see talent in small villages of MP. In the next 5-6 years, we’ll see a title,” says Sandhya who works as a talent scout for her state cricket body now.