Gambhir's gift does wonders to Sajana's confidence

KOCHI: Gautam Gambhir would be a proud man. Two years ago, when Gambhir visited Krishnagiri stadium, Wayanad for Delhi’s Ranji Trophy match against Rajasthan, the former Indian opener gifted one of his bats to Sajana S. Ever since, that bat has become one of Sajana’s prized possessions and she has been using it whenever she walks out to the crease.
On Wednesday, Sajana used Gauti’s gift to play one of the most important innings of her career, an unbeaten 19-ball 24 against Maharashtra in the final of Women’s U-23 T20 league and knockout tournament at BKC ground in Mumbai.The knock helped the Kerala U-23 cricket girls create history as it was for the first time a team from the state won a national championship in cricket.
And Sajana reckons Gambhir’s gift and advice came at a crucial moment in her career. “Gambhir’s gift was memorable. I have been batting with that bat ever since I received it from him and even scored a 84-ball hundred with it in an U-23 match against Tamil Nadu. After scoring that hundred, I wanted to thank Gambhir once again but couldn’t. Though I was not at my best with the bat in this tournament, I bagged 12 wickets with my off-spin.The journey has just begun for me. I hope to continue my good all-round show,” the 23-year-old from Wayanad told TOI.
Kerala coach Suman Sharma rates Sajana very highly. “Sajana is one player who can make it to the national side soon. She has great potential and her allround skills are above par. I am proud to coach this bunch of girls and hope to bring out the best from them,” the coach said.
Sajana, who was the vice-captain of Kerala’s senior team in the last season, says that she enjoyed her journey as captain of the U-23 team. “This tournament win is one of the biggest achievements of my life so far. Before this tournament, our coach and supporting staff told us to put in hundred percent effort on the field. We were not worried about results and there was no pressure on us to win the tournament. This is the result of a combined effort and everyone in the squad deserves credit,” Sajana added.
The KCA felicitated the entire team on their arrival in Kochi and Sajana feels the association have had a big role to play in their success. “The academy structure of KCA has been of great help to the players. The training routine is not different from men’s cricket and we are on the right track. We will come up with great results in the future too,” says a beaming Sajana.