The 26-year-old left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwer from Himachal Pradesh is an absolute character on the field and comes in with a never-say-die attitude. She plays for Railways in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy.
She picked up eight wickets at a strike rate of 21.75, an average of 11, and an exceptional economy of 3.03 in 10 innings and was the joint 2nd-highest wicket-taker for Railways in the 2022 edition of the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy. She also picked up five wickets in five innings for Central Zone in the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal T20 Trophy. She had a sensational campaign with the ball for Railways in the Senior Women’s One-Day Trophy 2023 with 18 wickets to her name at a strike rate of 27.55, an average of 11.16, and an exceptional economy of 2.43 in 11 innings.
Her impressive performances at the domestic level earned her a contract in the Inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League as Gujarat Giants picked her up for 50 Lakhs from her base price of 10 Lakhs. She was one of the impressive performers with the ball as she picked up five wickets at a strike rate of 32.4, an economy of 8.85 in eight innings in the inaugural edition. However, Gujarat Giants had a horrible season, finishing at the bottom of the points table with four points from eight games. Their couple of victories came against the eventual runners-up of the season, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Despite a disappointing campaign, she was one of the positives for the Gujarat Giants from the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League.
She was one of the few players to be retained by Gujarat Giants for the 2nd edition of the WPL. The Gujarat Giants had a similar story to their campaign in the 2nd edition of the tournament as they again went on to finish at the bottom of the points table with four points from eight games. Their couple of victories, this season came against UP Warriorz and the Royal Challengers Bangalore. However, they had a lot more positives this season, the emergence of the likes of the 16-year-old pacer Shabnam Shakil, Bharti Fulmali, Tanuja Kanwer, etc. A few international players, the likes of Laura Wolvaardt, and skipper Beth Mooney displayed impressive performances for the franchise, especially in the 2nd half of the season.
“She’s competitive, and she knows what she wants, so sometimes we have a few little arguments on the field about what fields to set. But, if I could pick one player in India to have in my team, it’s probably her, just because she’s very competitive if she bowls left-arm spin, that’s naturally pretty effective over here, you know and to be honest, she bowls the real tough overs. I throw her in the deep and a fair bit, and she loves it. She usually bowls a couple in the powerplay and a couple at the end, and usually with the short side. So you know, she’s been amazing for us, I can’t speak more highly for her, and hopefully one day we’ll see her in an India shirt.” The Gujarat Giants skipper Beth Mooney speaks about the significance of having her in the side.
Tanuja Kanwer ended the season as the highest wicket-taker with the ball for Gujarat Giants with 10 wickets to her name with a strike rate of 17.4, an average of 20.7, and an impressive economy of 7.13 in eight innings. Her best performance with the ball this season came in the last league match of the season when she returned with match figures (4-1-20-2) against the Delhi Capitals. She is currently the joint 2nd-highest wicket-taker of the season alongside Radha Yadav, Asha Sobhana, Nat Sciver-Brunt, and Deepti Sharma.
(Information sourced from Jio Cinema)