Ayushi Soni with coach Ramesh Chopra in Delhi.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Ayushi Soni had been in the wilderness for some time now. But the tenacious cricketer had been working diligently on her game with coach Ramesh Chopra, biding her time.
When the chance came, the 24-year-old Ayushi was unstoppable. She notched up two centuries and stood on top of the batting charts with 453 runs from six innings and an enviable batting average of 226.5, as she was unbeaten thrice, in the recent Challenger tournament in Dehradun.
Everyone who was someone in Indian women’s cricket was playing in the four teams, except for the Ieading stars of the country, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana.
Coach Chopra was understandably proud that Ayushi topped the batting averages among the four teams. More importantly, he was happy that Ayushi, batting at No. 6 in her first two innings in the three-day matches, won the confidence of the team with her sterling batting, and rose up to be No. 3.
In that first match, Ayushi was unbeaten in both innings, scoring a total of 103 runs at No. 6.
“Ayushi is not just hard-working, but a great student with tremendous grasp. The current performance shows that she can adapt to any situation or format of the game,” said Chopra.
“She has been playing white ball cricket from her under-19 days. Three-day cricket with red ball was a new concept for her. Yet, in only six sessions that we did, she was ready for the long version of the game,” added Chopra, quite pleased to see his ward knocking on the door for national duty.
Ayushi did make her debut for India against South Africa in Lucknow in 2021, but did not get another look in thereafter.
“Once she got to No. 3, she scored two centuries, with 155 not out as her best. If she gets a fair chance, I am sure Ayushi can perform beyond all our expectations,” assured Chopra, who has been training Ayushi for more than ten years.
It was Dronacharya awardee Sunita Sharma who had asked Chopra to take care of Ayushi, first at the cricket centre at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in the capital in 2014. Chopra has been mentoring Ayushi at his academy after retiring from the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
He is happy to play a small part in strengthening Indian women’s cricket by readying a top quality player like Ayushi.
Published – April 12, 2025 08:28 pm IST