New Delhi, Nov 5 (IANS) When India ended a long wait for a major silverware to lift the 2025 Women’s World Cup trophy, among the jubilant faces in the team was that of N Sree Charani, a left-arm spinner from YSR-Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh whose meteoric rise in 2025 has rewritten the script for aspiring cricketers from small towns aiming to represent the country.
Playing all nine games in the tournament, Charani claimed 14 wickets at an economy rate of 4.96, and emerged as India’s second-highest wicket-taker and fourth overall in the tournament standings.
For someone who made her WPL debut earlier this year for Delhi Capitals, Charani’s performances have been a revelation. Her composure, control, and tactical acumen from early days ensured that she wasn’t just a promising talent – she was a match-winner in the making.
The numbers tell part of the story: 3-41 against Australia in Visakhapatnam, 2-49 against the same opposition in Navi Mumbai, and 1-48 in the final against South Africa. By consistently bowling tight spells in the middle overs, Charani was the key in strangling the opposition’s momentum.
The manner of her bowling- pace variations, high arm action, the ability to grip and turn the ball – has truly caught everyone’s eye, especially her dismissal of Anneke Bosch. Vikram Kumar Varma, who was Andhra U23 women’s team coach when Charani began producing good performances.
“The first time I met her was in one of the camps in Vijayawada. So, in the first look itself, I thought she would make it big, because she was very eager to bowl. The best thing is, she always wants to bowl. It’s very tough to stop her bowling and that is the positive side. We saw that she has the ability to spin the ball very well – that was the first impression.”
“By the time she came in, she had already played for the state. She was good at the basics, but what we worked with her was with her game plan and strategies, where she can pick up the pace. She was very accurate and we started working on her pace variation and crease variation. The positive thing is, she adapts very quickly, is a very good listener and adapts very quickly,” he said in an exclusive conversation with IANS.
The transformation from defensive to attacking bowler has been striking for Charani. “When in Andhra, she was more of a defensive bowler. Now, she has become an attacking bowler. Whenever I used to play her, she used to bowl in the powerplay. So, that was her strength, as well as the accuracy.”
“But we worked on the tactical area where she can vary her pace and lengths a little bit so that she can get more wickets. Earlier, she used to bowl more of maiden overs. Now, she is getting in the act of taking crucial wickets at crucial times.”
Varma recalls a defining moment from two years ago featuring Charani. “There are a lot of memories because I still remember one match from the Under 23 trophy two years ago, where the Baroda team needed eight runs to win, with six wickets in hand and we had to qualify for the next round after winning that match. So, she has bowled an over where she took four wickets while giving one run.”
Srinivas Reddy, who was Andhra women’s U19 coach and has worked closely with Charani, would send ‘all the best’ messages to the youngster before every World Cup game and ‘well played’ after each match concluded. In the last 15 years, Reddy had a big influence on players like Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneha Deepthi and Ravi Kalpana, who went on to play for India before Charani came into the picture.
“Playing for the first time in a World Cup, her work ethics, discipline and hard work, have really helped her to stand that level. I used to tell her, enough is enough in bowling sessions. She would bowl more despite the load-monitoring being around, which happened even ahead of the state games. Last year, we were in Raipur. So, we will be playing in the practice two days before the domestic season began.”
“But Charani would bowl a lot – like I would say, don’t push yourself much, you have bowled already six overs for today. But she used to prolong it by bowling another two to three overs. It’s simply the type of girl Charani is – she always wants to keep the ball in her hands and keep on bowling.”
“She would do spot bowling, after bowling in the nets, and spot bowling before that. After completion of the session also, she used to bowl a few more balls, at least two overs. She used to come first into the ground, and was the one who used to leave the ground last,” he said to IANS.
Reddy also spoke eloquently about her match-winning qualities. “She has given the breakthroughs at the right time. Whenever the opposition team accelerates and is dominating, she used to give the breakthroughs and put the brakes on the scoring of the other team and built that pressure automatically. Again, with the old ball, in the same way, she bowled consistently, not giving many runs.”
“If you can go through her economy rate, along with the wickets also, she has maintained that balance. She never gives many runs in the death overs – everybody will go, just keep going and hitting, but not against her. Though Charani is not the captain, she has that leadership qualities, which reflects well in whatever the responsibility the captain gives her, she strongly maintains it.”
The impact of Charani’s success extends far beyond the cricket field in Andhra. For Reddy, it represents a paradigm shift in how cricket can perceived as a career option in the state. “Definitely, it’s an emotional moment for all of us. Most of the time, it’s all about academics.”
“But now they can take playing cricket as a career option, especially the lower middle class players and those who are really coming from the poor background, they can also get the pride of playing for India. This really impacts all the cricketers all over India and will build their careers in this area.”
“It’s an emotional moment for us to see Charani be a World Cup winner. For me, I didn’t have any tension from watching the final because I definitely believed they would win. But for the semi-final game, I got tears automatically and was so emotional at the end of it.”
Varma echoes the same sentiment. “The entire country has been in a happy mood since the time the trophy was lifted. It’s a very proud moment for all of us, because now she has become a role model for all the girls in Andhra. We are very happy from our side that she has done brilliantly and performed well to win the World Cup.”
“She will now have a huge influence. Actually, we are in a group called Happy Dressing Room Group. She is part of it. So, everybody is happy and looking to meet her. I think most of the juniors now will get the inspiration to play for the country from her.”
Not long ago, she was training to be a runner. Then things happened, and now she’s a cricket World Cup champion in the 50-over format. Charani’s path to the World Cup was swift but rightfully earned. “We won the U-19 challengers in 2021, in Jaipur. That year only, she was selected for state and performed well. I was the coach of India B team and luckily, she was in my team also. From there, I have seen her development and started to believe that this girl will soon play within 2 years for India.”
“With all 60 players distributed into A, B, C, D teams, she was really inspired by seeing all those girls, and started to feel I am not lesser than them. From there onwards, she never looked back. Next year, she was selected for seniors, then challengers, WPL and now India.”
As the celebrations continue and Charani is expected to come back home, Varma is already thinking about the impact she can have in future. “She will be the main strike bowler for India in the future. She has a lot of responsibility now because she has already seen success. Now, the only way is to go forward is to work harder and she will be the champion bowler for India.”
The rich praise from legendary India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is also a huge boost for Charani, says Varma. “Some good words from a legend taking about her, it’s a great feeling for us, actually. That was the biggest moment in my life – to hear a legend like him speaking good words about Charani.”
“Whatever I have seen for the past 2 years, she is always a hard worker. Plus, she always questions you – that’s the beauty part of her. She is a very quiet person. She doesn’t speak at all. Often, we have to go to her so that she can openly ask some questions. But when she is in one-to-one, she asks very good questions and gets all the clarification.”
The homecoming promises to be emotional, says Reddy, who also talks about Charani having good downswing with the bat. “Now, everybody in Andhra Pradesh is waiting to meet her, and not only at our women’s academy in Mangalagiri. Now, I am getting so many messages like that. All the Andhra girls and me are blessed to have her within us. Now, everybody is giving us compliments,” he says.
For the girl from Kadapa who couldn’t be kept away from the ball, and would do consistent spot bowling until the lights went out at practice – this is just the beginning. India have found their left-arm spinner for the long haul, and N Sree Charani’s story has only just begun to unfold.
–IANS
nr/
