Team India’s middle-order batter Veda Krishnamurthy recently opened up about her game in a Facebook Live with Indian Express. She said that her aggressive nature sometimes goes against her but her natural game is such that she can turn the table on her days.
Krishnamurthy said, “My aggressive nature has definitely gone against me sometimes in my career. The higher the reward associated with risk, higher is the chance of missing out.”
“But I like to stick to my natural game. If it comes off, it will flip the match in such a way that the opponents cannot come back. Sometimes because of me, things have gone wrong for the team, but that’s cricket. I am the nail in the coffin, either for my team or the other team, depends on how that day turns out,” she further added.
Ever since she made her debut in 2011, Veda Krishnamurthy has been an important player of the Indian middle order. While tasting the success, she has to face a low phase as well when she was dealing with single-digit scores. But she shared that she doesn’t regret any of the rash shots she has played. She also believed that regrets don’t work.
In the T20I World Cup earlier this year, she scored a quickfire 11-ball 20 against Bangladesh, which made the difference between the two teams. Even the captain Harmanpreet Kaur referred to that as the turning point of the match as India won the game by 18 runs.
Veda Krishnamurthy on the difference between Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur’s captaincy
While Mithali Raj leads the side in the 50-over format, Harmanpreet Kaur leads India in the shortest format. Mithali Raj is known for her calm and composed nature on the field whereas Harmanpreet is more of an aggressive captain. Mithali led the team in the 50-over World Cup twice – 2005 and 2017. On the other hand, India reached the final of the 2020 T20 World Cup under Kaur’s leadership in Australia.
Veda Krishnamurthy has played under both of them. While speaking on the differences between their captaincy, Krishnamurthy said: “Mithali is very calm on the field. You discuss your plans beforehand, you are told what your role is, if you are not able to execute your role, she discusses it in the team meeting later.”
“Harmanpreet is a more on-field captain. She is more aggressive, she is always telling you what to do. Both are very good in their own ways and are doing a fantastic job in the different formats right now,” she added.
Mithali Raj – the Role model
It is not unknown to her fans that Veda considers Mithali Raj her role model. She has played a long period of time with her – be it for India or Railways (domestic).
“Mithali scored a 200 in a two-day match when I had just started playing for Karnataka. I was struck by how effortlessly she scored her runs. When I first batted with her, I called up a friend and told her, ‘Do you know who I batted with today?’ That’s the kind of influence she had on us. I have learnt a lot in the 8-9 years I have spent with her,” she said.
She expressed, “Mithali is very professional. We all try to learn from her how she manages to compartmentalize things, does one thing at a time. She has mastered the art of concentration. She is always carrying her kindle around with her.”
The Indian team has witnessed a huge change after the 2017 ICC Cricket World Cup. While the players got their due recognition and some other facilities, a bunch of new faces made their debut. Among them, Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma have already stolen the limelight with their free-flowing batting.
While speaking on how the game has evolved in the country, Veda said, “I have seen women’s cricket take baby steps every year. When I made my debut, it was no big deal. Now when someone makes a debut, it’s a big thing. People know their names and faces. The womens’ team’s following took a leap after the 2017 World Cup.”
However, she has also talked about the mistake she did at an early stage when her fearless approach of batting fielding impressed everyone.
She added, “The biggest mistake of my cricket career was that I thought I was the greatest player when I was 18. I thought I was bigger than the game, that nobody could be better than me. It was only in 2014/15 when things started to fall in place for me. I realized cricket is bigger than anyone. This is true for life as well. You need to have gratitude, appreciation for what you have.”
During the live chat, she also shared her favourite cricketer and he is none other than Kevin Pietersen. She also said Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and Shafali Verma are her favourite batting partners. However, she also explained why Shafali is on the list. “Easy for a player when batting with Shafali, just have to take singles and let her do the scoring,” she added.
According to Veda Krishnamurthy, Jemimah Rodrigues is the funniest cricketers, as well as, a prankster in the team despite when she has to bat as she gets serious before that. While she named herself as the best dancer, she revealed RCB her favourite IPL team and reaching the 2017 World Cup final is the best day of her life.
