At 16, Anagha Murali is among the youngest players picked for the upcoming Women's T20 Challenge. Anagha will represent the Velocity side, alongside big names like Mithali Raj, Shafali Verma and Englishwoman Danielle Wyatt.
Anagha’s rise through the ranks has been dramatically quick. She took up the sport at 11, under the guidance of K. Muralidhara at Herons CC.
Just two weeks into her formal training, Anagha got picked for the Karnataka Under-16 team. A year later, the left-arm spinner made it to the Karnataka U-19 team.
She soon transitioned to the U-23 level, the women’s Karnataka Premier League exhibition matches, the senior KSCA club league and the senior Karnataka probables list.
Anagha won the 'Best Bowler' award in the women's under-16 and under-19 categories in the KSCA awards function last year.
Her father Murali recalls the start of her cricket journey. “Muralidhara spotted her talent early. When he said that Anagha should try out for the Karnataka U-16 side, we were surprised. She had only started her formal cricket training two weeks earlier. But Muralidhara was confident, and he was proved right,” Murali says.
Anagha, a 1st PUC student at Transcend PUC, is understandably excited and nervous about competing with the stars in the Women's T20 Challenge. The teenager cites Ravindra Jadeja as her idol. The three-team, four-match tournament commences at UAE on November 4.
