Carving her own story amidst the difficulties and serious financial crunch, an underprivileged tribal girl working as a daily wage earner in Odisha’s mineral-rich Keonjhar district has earned her place in the under-23 women’s cricket team of Jharkhand.
20-year-old Pinky Tirkey from Balani colony under Joda block district is working as a labourer on the railway sidings in Keonjhar to earn the daily bread.
After Pinky’s father passed away a couple of years ago, since then she has got her family’s back. She is the bread-earner of the family for 8. She works really hard earning 2000 per month which as a result isn’t enough these days. Crediting the strong will power she sustains, against all odds she found a way to take her passion forward.
Pinky started her training under coach Amarendra Mohanty back in 2012. In 2015 she was selected for the under-19 squad of women’s cricket team of Jharkhand. Her hard work paid off in 2017 when she got an opportunity to play for the under-23 Jharkhand cricket team.
In a conversation with ‘ODISHA TIMES’, Pinky expressed that-“
“I have to work on railway sidings to support the family. But, I want to play, If the government or other support comes in, it would be of immense help to the family.
Besides, it would help me focus on the game”. Including inter-district and state-level tournaments, the budding woman cricketer has played around 25 matches, by far.
This story was first published in Odisha Times
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