When Harry’s big shots made Mithu, Veda dance

Moga : Harmanpreet Kaur, who received a rousing welcome on her return to Moga today, credits a schoolteacher for starting her in a girls’ team. “I wasn’t even aware that girls played professional cricket! But one day, my schoolteacher saw me playing cricket with some boys, and told me that if I were that interested in the game, he would form a girls’ team,” says Harmanpreet.
That’s how Harmanpreet got into a band of like-minded girls, all the way to the national team, in which they share a great bond and enjoy each other’s company. When Harmanpreet was carting the Australian bowlers all around the park during her whirlwind 171* in the Women’s World Cup semifinal, skipper Mithali Raj and all-rounder Veda Krishnamurthy were busy showing their dance moves to each other in the dugout. The 21-second video has gone viral on various social media platforms and has garnered thousands of likes from fans of the Indian team.
Dancing cricketers
There are two other dance videos of the team members on Hindi songs — “Ek Pal Ka Jeena” (originally made famous by Hrithik Roshan) and “Mukkala Mukkabala” (with Prabhudeva’s dance skills). One thing was common in all three videos. They had Veda leading the cricketers’ dancing brigade, which would, occasionally, feature Mithali and opener Mona Meshram.
Veda, a 24-year-old from Karnataka’s Chikmagalur, was the undisputed dancing queen of the 15-member Indian squad, who won millions of hearts with their spirited performance at the World Cup, ending as the runners-up.
“I was passionate about dancing since my childhood. During my free time, partying or family function, I just let myself loose and dance,” says Veda. “That video with Mithu di (Mithali) you saw, it was our way of enjoying Harry’s (Harmanpreet) batting. We were dancing on the famous American song Cake By The Ocean.”
Prankster
Uttarakhand’s Ekta Bisht, who shot into the limelight after scalping 5/18 in India’s low-scoring thriller against Pakistan, was the top prankster of the team.
On one occasion, she pulled a prank on the second-most experienced player in the squad after Mithali, Bengal’s Jhulan Goswami. She hid Jhulan’s spectacles and returned them only after the tall fast bowler correctly pronounced the Hindi word “thoda”.
“Since Jhulu di is from Bengal, she would say ‘thora’ and not ‘thoda’. Despite me correcting her several times, she would keep on repeating ‘thora’. One day, I got so irritated that I decided that I would definitely correct her,” Bisht said laughingly. “It’s all because of the love, affection and care they showered on us. Mithu and Jhulu di would never behave like seniors. Their presence in the dressing room was so comforting.”
Lively dressing room
Veda and Ekta were among the liveliest in the Indian dressing room, and their jokes and cheerfulness kept the girls going during thick and thin in their World Cup campaign. The girls went through the high of securing four wins on the trot, before succumbing to two successive defeats, and then rising again to beat New Zealand and Australia to reach the final. All through this, characters like Veda and Ekta kept the team in good spirits.
Rising up
“After that Australia defeat in the league stage, we came back to the hotel dejected,” said left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad, whose 5/15 helped India beat New Zealand in a must-win clash. “It was Jhulu di who took the initiative and cracked a joke or two, which brought the smiles back on our faces. All the team members then went out for a dinner, had some fun moments. And so there we were, ready for the next battle. You know, we were each other’s support system.”
Apart from cracking jokes, dancing, watching movies on laptops and going out for dinners in their free time, many of the girls fulfilled long-standing personal wishes of seeing a bit of London.
“I had listened a lot about the iconic London Eye (a giant Ferris wheel on the South Block of the River Thames). I had been to London twice, but never got a chance to visit it. This time, I made sure to have a ride. The whole team went for it. London never looked so beautiful before,” said Ekta, with Rajeshwari nodding in agreement.