Interview with Kavita Patil – Maharashtra State and Railways Player

1. What was your first interaction with cricket like?
I was good at other sports so my sports teacher felt I would be good at cricket as well. So one fine day he called me just for trials and I did well but I never liked playing cricket. I didn’t enjoy at the beginning.

2. Walk us through your initial (childhood) cricket days? Any gully cricket moment that you remember?
Whenever I used to play with my siblings, I used to play on one condition; if u give me first batting only then I will play and then ones out, I used to run back to home. (laughs)

3. Any siblings? Were they equally interested in Cricket?
Not really, just for fun we used to play.

4. Who were your cricketing role model / inspiration whilst growing up?
I always liked watching Dale Steyn my all time favourite.

Also Read: Female Cricket interviews Captain of Nepal Women’s Cricket team Rubina Chhetri

5. Why did you choose cricket back then despite knowing the challenges and the hardships one face throughout the career? How easy/difficult was it to convince your parents?
I always liked sports be it a TT or Basketball, but then cricket came very late into my life and once I started playing I started enjoying the game. It gives me happiness.
My dad was a basketball player so it wasn’t difficult at all for me to convince them. He always wanted me to get into sports.

6. Which club and Coach did you start your journey with? Which all club have you represented so far?
As we all know we don’t have club cricket for women’s everywhere. It’s like you will find one girl playing against 50 boys. My school sports teacher Mr. Warkhad got me into cricket. Actually I was forcefully made to play cricket in my school days as I was good at running events.

I have played for Pune District team. That’s all I can tell as I earlier mentioned, there were no such club teams for girls cricket.

7. When did you make your domestic debut? What was the feeling that day? Were you excited with the opportunity or nervous with the expectations from you?
I guess 2007-08, I was super nervous I would say, but at the same time I was excited as well that being my debut match.

8. Walk us through your journey towards Maharashtra State Team? What all matches did you play to get there?
I remember we (senior team) had a match at Shinde High School in Pune and I took 3 brilliant catches and 2 wkts in that game and my selectors and few senior players were pretty much impressed with my performance and the same time I played u-19 inter state. I performed with both bat and ball which also helped me play with the senior team. That year I didn’t play a single game as we had an amazing bunch of players. Getting into the senior playing 11 was difficult for me. Being an U-19 player and being a pacer we already had 6 pacers in the team that time but still I got into the 15 squad was a big thing for me.

9. You have played for Maharashtra state, Railways, West Zone and Central Zone. You are known to be one of the promising cricketers from Maharashtra. How has the journey been so far? Highlight some of the high-low moments you’ve witnessed so far?
Playing for Maharashtra has always given me a special feeling. Be it a u-19 match or seniors. We always had a very good bunch of players which continues till date be it U-19 or seniors but then getting into railways team and playing into 11 is always a challenge for a non India player where you have 10 India players in your side and you have to fight for that one spot to get into 11. Railways being a dominant side all time in the domestic circuit always have that pressure on their shoulders of winning the domestic competition.

10. (Approx) how many domestic female players do we have in India right now? What all tournaments are available for them today?
There are almost 25 to 26 domestic state teams so I guess there should be some 150 odd tournaments categorized into One days, T-20s and multi-day inter zone tournament and challenger trophy.

11. What all are the challenges faced by a domestic female cricketer today?
I would say everyone doesn’t come from a well balanced financial background. There are many girls who hardly can afford cricket equipment. Few of them have to travel long just for practice sessions. Some leave their hometown and go to other cities to get good quality practice.

12. Which was the recent tournament you played? How did you perform there?
The recent I played was inter-zonals. I played only 2 games as I got injured in the second game against south zone. So, I had to leave the tournament in between.

Also Read: records made by all the team in 2017 Women’s World Cup Final

13. Tell us about your coach/mentors responsible for grooming your cricket career?
In my early days of cricket, I was really blessed to have some very nice seniors/mentors to look after me in all aspects be it gyming. training or skills; they helped me in all the ways. I didn’t find any type of difficulty.

14. How was it playing under Mithali’s captaincy (India Blue) in challenger trophy last year?
It wasn’t anything different as I have played under her for Indian railways.

15. Which has been the turning point in your cricket career?
The (2012-13) challenger trophy played at BKC Mumbai where I played for India Red and gave the performance: 7 overs, 3 wickets and 7 runs against India blue.

16. Do you set goals for yourself? Or any other trick to measure your performances?
I just go game by game.