Anuja knows well how to utilise long intl breaks

Kolhapur girl Anuja Patil had a good Twenty20 tri-series for India recently featuring Australia and England also but her all-round show at Cricket Club of India wasn’t enough to earn her a maiden ODI call. The 25-year-old daughter of a former auto rickshaw driver, widely regarded as Twenty20 specialist, has earned 31 India caps in the shortest format since making her international debut during the 2012 World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.

She will have to wait more for ODI cap as she isn’t in the Indian squad that will play three-match ODI series against England in Nagpur from April 6. She though played in the practise game against England in Nagpur on Tuesday while representing India A and took 3/33 with the ball and didn’t get to bat.

Now, unless BCCI arranges few T20 matches in between, India is set to play the next Twenty20 tournament only in Asia Cup slated to happen in June. Anuja, who convinced her father to give up driving auto rickskaw few years ago relies on cricket income to feed her family. During time off she will practice back home to further enhance her skills and be mentally prepared for next tournament which comes after a long wait normally.

Earlier, it was hard for this only child of her parents to run the family but now she figures in Grade C of BCCI’s newly introduced central contract system for women’s cricketers, so the earning is assured atleast for one year.

“I wish I can play in ODIs also. But my job is to perform well. I am used to long international breaks and I practice during that time in Kolhapur to improve my skills. I know my role well in Twenty20 cricket in the Indian team so it helps me prepare better,” she said.

“I solely depend on cricket to run my family,” adds the Maharashtra cricketer.

With her ability to play attacking shots and bisect the field in the middle overs, the experienced player who is a quality off-spinner also, will be key to plans for the 2018 World T20 in West Indies this November.

She executed the plans well during the tri-series and was India's best player on show along with Smriti Mandhana.

“The tri-series was good for me. I batted and bowled according to the plan. In batting, I have developed more shots and rotate the strike better while in bowling I vary my speed more than before,” she said.

The Maharashtra all-rounder has been regular in India A side in 50-over games but hasn't been able to make the final cut. She captained India A in the two practice games at Bandra Kurla Complex ahead of the three-match ODI series between India and Australia in Baroda and made scores of 16 and 49. Later she scored a breezy 35 and an unbeaten 38 against Australia in the Twenty20 tri-series to give impetus to Indian innings. She also came up with a  woman-of-the-match performance 3/21 against England in the last league game to ensure India win their first game in the tournament.