Vrinda Dinesh, like most female cricketers or fans in India, didn’t miss a single game of the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League. As a player, she was thrilled to see the matches being played in front of huge crowds in the stadia of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai earlier this year.
Now, she could look forward to showcasing her own skills in front of those spectators. She created a sensation at the auction for the second edition of the WPL: she was picked up by UP Warriorz for ₹1.3 crore.
She was as surprised by the figure as anyone else. “When I heard my Karnataka teammate say during our training session (at Raipur), the number 1.3, I thought it must be 1.3 lakh,” Vrinda said. “Then I realised there can’t be such an amount at the WPL.”
Probably the first thing the 22-year-old opener would want to do with that money is to buy the dream car for her parents. She doesn’t feel she would be under pressure because of the price tag. “The price tag is not in my hands,” she said. “I just want to give it my best. At the end of the day, I am just here to play and enjoy the sport.”
Vrinda, who played for India-A against England-A in the recent T20 series, said she was happy she could join a team led by Alyssa Healy, one of her favourite cricketers. Another Australian Meg Lanning, the captain of Delhi Capitals, and Virat Kohli are her other icons.
She also recalled the faith in her shown by her Karnataka captain Veda Krishnamurthy, who had assured her that she would play all the games when she came back into the side. She repaid with scoring successive hundreds.
“That was a turning point in my career… I made my senior team debut in 2018; I played two games and then I sat out, for a long time, probably for 22 matches.”
She was rewarded for her fine performances on the domestic cricket, with spots in the India-A teams. Back in June, she played a key role in the final of the ACC Women’s Emerging Teams Cup in Hong Kong. Her 29-ball 36 proved crucial as India-A beat Bangladesh-A by 31 runs in a low-scoring game.
Innings like that put her under the radar at a time when the WPL talent scouts have been looking for fresh talents.
