Amidst the lockdown when fans are eager for any form of cricket, clips from the past and the live sessions by players have kept the fans and the social media buzzing. Apart from Instagram LIVE by Rohit and Virat, there has been a joyful start by Smriti and Jemimah who have made their partnership work magic on YouTube too.
In between all the buzz and online sensation, Team Female Cricket got another visual treat for cricket lovers. The find comes from the southern part of India. People have AB de Villiers smacking bowlers all around the park, they have aggressive pull shots from Gautam. Fans will recall the glorious inside-outs from Raina. Above all, the helicopter has its presence in all corners where cricket has gone. The trademark shot from young MS Dhoni still takes the breath away. What if there was one player playing all these shots? And what if it was a girl?
Miss. 3️⃣6️⃣0️⃣
Meet 16 year old Akhila Ponnukuttan, from God’s own country Kerala (dist. Palakkad) who currently plays for Kerala’s U19 women’s team. 😊
The variety she has in her shots will amaze you 😍 Akhila is a die hard M S Dhoni fan and wants to see him bat for 🇮🇳 soon. pic.twitter.com/3ObjbjfOMR
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) May 22, 2020
Team Female Cricket has discovered Miss 360 from the Palakkad District of Kerala, India. As the name tells, no side of the boundary shall be safe when the lockdown eases and cricketing action starts. Due to the restrictions, we find most of her action in the backyards but there are stints of her glorious shots in the cricketing attire too.
If there is any word that describes the clip and her sheer talent, it has to be “complete”. In the clip, we find a range of shots. There are aggressive pulls for the one day and there are reverse sweeps for the shortest format. However, under these fancies, we shall not forget the role of basic technique. As a coach would say, one has to be technically sound and supreme to try out newer shots.
We find Akhila playing a full-fledged front foot defense. The ball was right under the eyes when it got to the bat. It was a perfect shot straight from the textbook. Moving on from defense, we have some glorious elevated shots. There is a tendency in her game to clear the V when the ball comes fuller and on slower ones, we find her feet moving too. In the first few balls, we saw a lofted straight drive with a dead straight bat. These are signs of apt technique in her bat flow. On getting a fuller ball on the off-stump line, she bends her shape and plays one of those iconic inside-out from Suresh Raina.
On a bouncer, her aggressive shots remind one of Gautam Gambhir. Both are left-handed and have a similar stature of playing shorter balls. It is not obvious to mention that very few things on cricket ground look better than a drive for the left-handed batter. Akhila has proven the point more beautifully. Her clips are doing rounds in social media as her helicopter shots remind fans of their Thala.
More importantly, the talent is appreciated not only by us, but she has gathered appreciation from one of the premier members of the English side. Danielle Wyatt has replied to the tweet by Female Cricket and expressed her love for the helicopter shots played by a 16-year old sensation from Kerala. It is important for the game to find such talent and train them. Champions of the backyard can be the ambassador of the game if they are trained and nurtured in the right manner.
Loving the 🚁
— Danielle Wyatt (@Danni_Wyatt) May 23, 2020
Loves all things female cricket