The Women’s Premier League (WPL) mega auction in New Delhi on Thursday saw 67 players find buyers across five franchises. There were several leading Indian and international players among them, but one name stood out from the rest — not for the big bucks but for her age.
Sixteen-year-old Deeya Yadav became the youngest-ever player to be bought at a WPL auction, after Delhi Capitals acquired the hard-hitting top-order batter at her base price of Rs 10 lakh. The acquisition will reunite Deeya with her role model, India opening batter Shafali Verma — the player of the match in the recent World Cup final — with whom she has already played for Haryana, and who took to social media to congratulate the teenager on getting picked by DC.
“Congratulations, Diya, welcome to Delhi Capitals,” wrote the World Cup winner on Instagram on Thursday.
Deeya has been playing with Shafali for three years now, and the influence is evident. Watching her state senior smash the bowling at the top of the order has inspired her to make aggression the big feature to her game.
That impact was showcased two years ago in the Under-15 women’s one-day cup at Raipur when Deeya smashed an unbeaten 213 off just 125 balls against Tripura.
“We have played for Haryana together. I always learn how to be aggressive during batting and how to handle pressure situations. She (Shafali) plays really well under pressure. I developed the intent of hitting when I started playing with her,” Deeya tells The Indian Express.
Referring to her breakout innings, she says, “No one knew me then. That double century was a turning point in my career.”
That is when Delhi Capitals is likely to have been interested.
“We have been tracking Deeya since she burst onto the U-15 circuit. We watched her closely in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy this year and were very impressed. She has taken her transition from age-group to senior cricket like fish to water,” DC CEO Sunil Gupta said.
“Her range of shots and ball-striking ability, along with fearless approach, is what impressed our scouts and led to us picking her at the auction.”
Shafali topped the run-getters’ charts at the senior women’s T20 trophy this year while Deeya was Haryana’s second- highest run-scorer with 298 runs in nine matches. She backed those exploits with 151 runs in six matches at a strike rate of 149.50 for North Zone in the senior Inter Zonal T20 tournament, where her team lost the final to West Zone.
Born in Faridabad, Deeya spent her initial years as a cricketer in Pune as both her IT professional parents worked out of the city. It was while watching her father Rakesh Yadav — a former Delhi Under-19 player — that she developed an interest in the game.
“I started my cricket in Pune. My father, who is an inspiration for me, used to play some corporate matches. So, looking at him, I started my cricket. He taught me a bit. Some of my friends also played gully cricket in our society. So that also motivated me. I was six years old then,” Deeya recalls.
She cried profusely after watching India lose the 2017 ODI World Cup final to England at Lord’s. But from those tears arose a real fire within that helped her climb the cricketing ladder one step at a time.
Rakesh is waiting to see how his daughter fares when thrown into the deep end in the WPL.
“She playing in front of a big crowd would be very exciting… to see how she is going to react. Because normally in India, there are not very big crowds to see domestic matches, especially for girls. DC will have qualified coaches and good people around her. The best part is that Shafali would be there,” he said.
The coronavirus pandemic marked a significant shift in her development. With the world going into lockdown and remote work becoming the new norm, it allowed Deeya and her parents to relocate back to Haryana, and three years later came the performance which Deeya calls a “turning point” in her career. The right-hander, who also idolises MS Dhoni, said that apart from Shafali, she is also hoping to learn from the likes of DC teammates Jemimah Rodrigues and Laura Wolvaardt on how to bat under pressure.
“I want to know how they react to pressure situations. This is the first time I will be playing with such big players. I have played with seniors, but I will play with international players now. I am very excited and curious about their game plan,” she says.
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