Women’s cricket in India has come a long way. And the inception of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) has brought out young domestic talent to the horizon. One of the promising talents that has caught the eye is Soppadhandi Yashasri of UP Warriorz. At UP Warriorz, the 19-year-old rubbed shoulders with two acclaimed superstars in Alyssa Healy and Sophie Ecclestone. With wind in the wings from the two, Yashasri is now targeting India berth with good domestic performance.
The 19-year-old was part of the Indian Women’s team that won the inaugural ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup. She was impressive with her bowling skills and took four wickets in two matches. Soppadhandi Yashasri is also one of the rising stars of the UP Warriorz, the franchise team that picked in the WPL 2023 Auction.
In this exclusive interview, we talk to her about WPL, the impact of star players like Alyssa Healy and Sophie Ecclestone, her U-19 World Cup journey and more. Excerpts…
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InsideSport: The U-19 World Cup win was followed by the WPL. You were picked by UP Warriorz. It turned out to be a good season for you. Tell us about it.
Soppadhandi Yashasri: My last year has been a very good year where I’ve got such good exposure. Before last year I was no one. I was just a player from Hyderabad playing cricket, a decent bowler or decent all-rounder. But now I’m very thankful for UP Warriorz who picked me.
I was really not expecting to be in any team. Yes, I didn’t get many opportunities in the World Cup either, so I had no expectations. I was actually not watching the auction at that time because I was in the gym doing my work. When UP Warriorz lifted the paddle, my mom called me. I was shocked and couldn’t believe it. I put down the phone and started working out again.
InsideSport: How was the experience sharing a dressing room with the likes of Alyssa Healy, Deepti Sharma, and Tahlia McGrath?
Soppadhandi Yashasri: Yeah, they have always supported me, starting from Sophie and Alyssa. Healy being the captain and I was bowling in the pressure situation where Ismail had given some runs in the opening.
I’ve come in the second over, but Haley didn’t put any pressure on me. She’s like, go do your task, you know what to do. And Sophie, as a bowler helped me a lot in the net session or in on the ground. She used to guide me on what to bowl, how to bowl, and the set field. And my bowling coach of the UP Warriorz, Ashley. He is a really great mentor who came at the right time in my career. I got to learn so much from him.
InsideSport: The WPL has probably come at the right time for you. With all the opportunities, it’s opened up a new horizon. It’s putting a brand new perspective on women’s cricket. What do you think that brings us to?
Soppadhandi Yashasri: It is actually a great platform to showcase our talent, and WPL has just begun. I think in two, three years, it’s going to be a huge hit. There are a lot of young girls who are coming in, or the girls who are already in the team are going to pick up their game by looking at the overseas players. And similar to the domestic. The domestic season also going to improve. I think WPL is a very big platform which has come into woman’s cricket. It’s a very big opportunity for us young cricketers.
InsideSport: Talking about your U-19 journey, how helpful it was for you and the other young girls to have Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh alongside?
Yashasri: I am very grateful to be part of the winning side. I’m very thankful and grateful that I was selected and was a part of the team. It was an amazing feeling because winning the World Cup itself is a great thing for women’s cricket. And we being the debutants wearing our first Indian jerseys, our first Blues’ first international experience was amazing.
InsideSport: We have two World Cups coming up. We have the WPL also. Is there anything new that you’re working on? Any goals that you’ve set for yourself in the coming years?
Yashasri: The only thing I want to do right now is be very consistent. Whatever I have learned, keep performing and implementing what I can. For now, my main goal is to do really well in domestic. I had not gotten a chance to play domestically last year because I was busy with the World Cup.
It’s been a long time since I played senior cricket. I want to see how much I’ve improved. So I really want to do well in this domestic season and I’m putting up that as my priority right now. That doing good and domestic and getting selected for the team again because they are going to pick us based on our domestic performance.
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