NEWS
Follow UsHaving made her first appearance all the way back in 2006 for Kerala at the age of 15, Asha Sobhana’s journey is one of toil and hard work. Over the years, the leg-spinner has seen multiple ups and downs in her life, but one thing has remained constant: never give up.
It is, in fact, her ability to always fight which has made her fulfill her long-standing dream of donning the Indian blues. On Monday (May 6), the leg-spinner became the oldest Indian women’s cricketer to make her debut. It was at 33 that she finally got to live her dream.
Sobhana’s selection in the national setup was only possible because of her outstanding efforts in the 2024 edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), where she emerged as the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)’s trump card. It was a season where she finished with 12 wickets, averaging just 15.41, which tilted a call-up in her favour.
"If it's a long journey, don't give up. That's what I want to say. Sometimes what happens is in the journey ahead, we will think, 'oh, it's a long journey. I might want to take a break. Maybe I will quit.' But don't do that. You never know what's going to happen next. So, the way WPL changed my life, anything can happen to anyone. And never stop dreaming. Dreams are not so far to achieve,” Asha said in the post-match press conference, reported ESPNCricinfo.
"I have no words to describe the feeling I'm going through. I was pretty emotional, of course. 2011 was the year when I came into prominence in India. From there, if you see, it's like touching 13-14 years. So, I am feeling so happy."
"I am feeling so blessed to share some time with some elite athletes of our country. They know [when to] switch on and switch off really well. They are very free [with] us, they come to us and talk. At the same time, they know when to switch on. Next moment, they are that serious team player. I am watching Harry paaji from my 18 years. I never thought I would be playing with her,” she added.
She has moved through the ranks at Kerala and Railways before making the switch to Puducherry. After getting limited game time in the first season of the WPL, the leg-spinner’s career path took an upward curve when she stalled the UP Warriorz in the first meeting between the two sides in 2024, where she picked up five wickets.
The leg-spinner made an impact on her debut as well against Bangladesh, where she picked up figures of 2/18, including removing the opposition skipper Nigar Sultana and Shorna Akter.
"I have been through so many struggles and [put in a lot of] hard work. It was worth this moment. Really happy. It was not easy for me to make [my] debut at the age of 33. But the credit goes to BCCI, selectors, captain, vice-captain, all the team members, coaches and management for having faith in me and giving me the opportunity to play at 33. The kind of faith they showed [in] me, that's amazing,” she added.
