A couple of massive balloons are flying high at the main entrance of the ACA-VDCA Stadium, where a statue of CK Nayudu: Colossus of Cricket, stands tall. Tournament banners stare from all corners. The quaint port city, the home of Vizzy, one of the most colourful characters of India cricket, is getting decked up to host two of India's most defining matches of the Women's World Cup-versus South Africa on Thursday and against Australia on Sunday. There is another reason the locals are excited. Andhra's N Sree Charani could grace her home state association's venue. The left-arm spinner grew up in a small village in the Kadapa district, 730 kilometres from Visakhapatnam, but a sense of regional pride buzzes. "We are so excited to see her play at this stadium," former India men's chief selector MSK Prasad, who has a gate named after him at the venue, tells The Indian Express. "Her quick escalation in the Indian team and the way she's been performing for the Indian team, slowly becoming a part of the success story of this squad, is really giving us so much happiness, man," he adds. He says it means a lot to Andhra cricket. "Our own girl is playing at the World Cup in our own ground. What else does any cricketer want? What this is going to do is, it will only bring several women cricketers representing the game at the highest levels from this region. And she comes from a remote district, not a main centre. It is absolutely inspirational. She will set the standard for us." Prasad recalls spotting a young Charani, who dabbled in both cricket and athletics (she played a few other sports even earlier in her career). Hailing from Erramalle village, Charani was inspired by her uncle Kishore Kumar Reddy's hobby. "I played so many games. I used to play Kho-Kho, Kabaddi, everything I used to play," Charani told BCCI during the recent tour of England. "I started playing cricket because of my mama (uncle). But I never thought that I’d start it professionally. But I had a dream. My mama used to teach me pace bowling. But for my pace, no one was getting out. So, I tried spin, and it worked," she said. After participating in an athletics meet, she told her mother she just wanted to play cricket from there on. Her mother agreed immediately, but father took some convincing. Srinivas Reddy, now the head coach of the senior women's set-up at the Andhra Cricket Association, worked with Charani during age-group days as well. "I'm really happy that she's selected for the Indian team and will be playing at the World Cup in Andhra. As a coach, I am extremely proud of her," Reddy says. "The first thing that caught my attention was actually her fielding when she was around 17-18. She's very quick and came from an athletics background. It was rare to see that in players of her age. Then slowly she began working on her left-arm spin. And she just loves to do spot bowling over and over. Whenever we used to stop a session, she used to come to me: 'Sir, I want to bowl some more balls. Sir, I want to bowl some more balls.' Hard work. Especially her work ethic, I can say, is the standout feature of her journey." Turning point The turning point came when she impressed at the 2021 U19 Women's Challenger Trophy, as India B – also coached by Reddy – clinched the title. "She never turned back," Reddy adds. "She came through the zonal system selection matches. I used to keep an eye on the talent coming through. One of the selectors told me to keep an eye out for this girl from Kadapa. She shuttled to Hyderabad, when we used to have camps in Mangalagiri, and she is the one who used to come first to the ground and last to leave." Reddy admits there will be a few anxious moments if Charani does get to play against South Africa and Australia. "I don't speak too much to her, so that she can continue with their routines. But Charani has that pace and high-arm release with which she can trouble her opponents. She always had a great throwing arm; you can see when she fires in a throw from the outfield. So we used that to work on her faster ones," he recollects Reddy also credited WPL for accelerating her growth as she got to work with Meg Lanning – the retired Australian captain – who had rich praise for the youngster during the last season with Delhi Capitals. It also helped her shed her inhibitions and open up more. Charani has bowled with good control in the tournament so far, picking up a couple of wickets against Sri Lanka in the opener and holding an end against Pakistan too as the other senior spinners in the side went about collecting the wickets. India's spin attack is going to play a crucial role in their quest for the title, and Radha Yadav will push for Charani's place in the eleven. But so far the youngster has been preferred by Harmanpreet Kaur as the first-choice leftie. With sterner challenges ahead for India, the 21-year-old's mettle is bound to be tested if India continue to trust her in the starting XI. "I know she can easily handle this pressure," Reddy adds.
