Meet Shreyanka Patil, the cheerful all-rounder who lit up the inaugural WPL

Shreyanka Patil is your typical woman subsequent door. She is cheerful and happy-go-lucky. For her associates in Bengaluru, ‘Shreyu’ is a bundle of power.

Shreyanka carries the identical vibe on the bottom. She is aggressive and thrives on elevating the bar, maybe why, regardless of a memorable outing within the inaugural version of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), she walked as much as her coach Arjun Dev and mentioned, “I am not happy with my bowling.”

It’s this zeal to enhance that retains the 20-year-old going. A right-handed batter and an off-spinner, Shreyanka completed because the second-highest wicket-taker within the Women’s Senior One Day Trophy final season, which finally earned her a WPL contract with Royal Challengers Bangalore. She didn’t disappoint, contributing 62 with the bat in seven innings and claiming six wickets.

“This year has been amazing. In terms of batting and bowling, I have been able to make a mark, and more than anything, it’s about the way I have evolved. I am so happy with the change that has happened,” she tells Sportstar.

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Shreyanka remembers the second she checked into the plush Mumbai lodge forward of the WPL, surrounded by the largest names in ladies’s cricket: Smriti Mandhana, Heather Knight, and Ellyse Perry.

“WPL happened very quickly, but then there was time for enjoyment and learning. It was not like, ‘Oh, it went off so quickly’. I had so much to do in those 30 or 40-odd days,” she says.

Of course, it was not simple to get used to the brand new setup. Shreyanka was handed her debut fairly all of a sudden. “After the first match, there were hints that I should be ready. Before the second game, (RCB director of cricket) Mike (Hesson) came up to me and said that I was in the final XI. After that, the next three to four hours were extremely nerve-racking,” she remembers.

Usually, Shreyanka simply places on her headphones en path to the bottom. But that day, “I could not even play the music I wanted to play. I was so nervous! The journey also seemed so long, as it took us one and a half hours to reach the ground. I just wanted to go out there and see what happened,” Shreyanka says.

In the entrance seat, Perry was listening to music. On some other day, Shreyanka would have struck up a dialog with the Aussie all-rounder. “But that day, I was like, ‘Arrey yaar!’. Even after we reached the ground, I could not believe that I would be making my debut,” she says.

Shreyanka had by no means confronted that sort of strain earlier than. “The crowds are watching you, then there are expectations from peers and coaches, and everything goes around us. When you have so many stars around you, you often tend to ask yourself, ‘Oh god! What are you going to do now, Shreyanka?’ There will always be a question mark there,” she says.

“I wanted to give my best. I was feeling that extra pressure from outside as well, and there was this constant fear of things going wrong,” she provides.

“That was the first time I was bowling in such an atmosphere. But after bowling a few deliveries, I calmed my nerves and told myself that I had to take things in my stride.”

As the event progressed, Shreyanka improved with each ball. “When you are on top of your run-up, you want to get the batters out. It does not matter who’s facing you—be it Nat Sciver-Brunt or Harmanpreet Kaur. But at the same time, there would also be negative thoughts on what if you get hit, or whether the field placement is right.”

Shreyanka would flip to seniors in crunch conditions. “Not just the RCB players; whenever we were playing with other teams, I made it a point to go up to the players and talk to them. Even if you don’t know them personally, it’s important for a young cricketer to interact with the senior players and pick their minds,” she says.

After returning house from the WPL, Shreyanka sat down along with her coach, Arjun, and assessed her efficiency.

“None of us were quite happy with my bowling. We both know what I am capable of doing, and I couldn’t reach that standard. Yes, the pressure and the nerves played a major role, but I think I was a bit off with my bowling,” she says.

“Now, when I look back, I think I was perhaps a bit over-excited, and as a result, instead of giving 100 per cent, I ended up giving 120 per cent. But I was happy with my death bowling as I could learn the yorkers as quickly as possible.”

The ‘little learnings’ helped her when she made it to the India A squad for the Emerging Asia Cup. In Hong Kong, Shreyanka claimed 9 wickets in two matches, guiding the Indian crew to a title victory.

“Thanks to those learnings from the WPL, I could bowl good offies in the Emerging Asia Cup, and that certainly boosted my confidence,” she says.

During the event, she gelled nicely with all of the members of India A. “We had an NCA camp before the tournament, and that helped us know each other better. We spent a lot of time together; we played together, ate together, and had loads of fun. This was one of the reasons why we could communicate so well,” she says.

After stellar performances within the WPL and the Emerging Asia Cup, Shreyanka hoped to get picked within the Indian senior ladies’s crew for the Bangladesh tour. But that didn’t occur. “Well, I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting a call since I had done decently well. But then, I am not stressed about that because I know I need to put in a lot of effort now. That hard work won’t stop, and I want to be ready so that whenever I get a call-up, I know I am well prepared,” she says.

Shreyanka has additionally added a brand new feather in her cap by changing into the primary Indian to be a part of the Caribbean Premier League. When the ladies’s event of the CPL begins in August, Shreyanka can be taking part in for the Guyana Amazon Warriors.

“It does not happen every day that you get picked for the CPL, so it’s special to be the first Indian to feature in the league,” she says, including: “I want to get stronger and more skilled. The idea is to work harder and be ready.”

Shreyanka might have made speedy strides lately, nevertheless it hasn’t all the time been a clean trip. A number of months in the past, she needed to search ‘help’ and deal with ‘ego issues’.

Undoubtedly, that was the hardest a part of her profession. “I learned that firstly, you should trust yourself and believe in your abilities, rather than people telling you what you are good at. Those days taught me that you should know yourself best, and trust is very important,” she says.

“Accepting things is the key. That’s something that I was lacking, and my coach told me that I don’t accept things. So, I countered him, and instead of giving me a definitive answer, Arjun told me to figure it out. I started thinking and slowly realised where I was going wrong,” she says.

Despite being a constant bowling all-rounder within the native cricket circuit in Bengaluru, she realised her performances dipped throughout that section.

“I got angry easily, and there were days when I would leave the ground fuming. I was not ready to accept my mistakes. I thought I didn’t need anyone around me and that I was the best. But that hit me hard,” she says.

“There were days when I struggled as I was not open to criticism; my ego would play a major role. I was not able to perform; I was not able to eat or sleep.”

“All this while I thought I was perfect; I was the best. But I realised I was wrong. It’s not like I am perfect now, but I think I can handle things slightly better now. There are phases when I go off, but those tough days have taught me how to switch on and switch off,” she says, including with a smile, “the button is in your hands.”

During these difficult occasions, Shreyanka began writing down her ideas in a diary and would additionally draw photos. That helped her get again on monitor. As a decided Shreyanka appears to be like again at these ‘dark days’, she believes you will need to be open to studying new issues.

That’s what WPL did to her. It allowed her to precise herself and made her stronger!