For almost all her life, Kranti Goud didn’t know that spinners existed in cricket. “In tennis-ball cricket, I used to see that the bhaiyas would just bowl fast. That’s why I took to pace bowling,” Kranti told Sportstar.
She has come a long way from her teenage days of playing with the tennis ball, which became evident on Saturday night when Kranti clean bowled Meg Lanning – a seven-time World Cup winner with Australia – to pick her first-ever wicket in the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
“It was my first wicket in WPL and that too of such a big player. I was feeling really good then and proud of myself,” a chuffed Kranti said the following day after she helped UP Warriorz open its account in WPL 2025 with a win against Delhi Capitals.
Kranti would go on to take three more wickets – of Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Jess Jonassen – to finish with figures of four for 25.
Kranti would go on to take three more wickets – of Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Jess Jonassen – to finish with figures of four for 25.
| Photo Credit:
K BHAGYA PRAKASH/The Hindu
Kranti would go on to take three more wickets – of Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Jess Jonassen – to finish with figures of four for 25.
| Photo Credit:
K BHAGYA PRAKASH/The Hindu
“She [Deepti Sharma] told me to bowl according to the field. I was told to bowl at the stump line and follow the batter’s body if they tried to shuffle around,” Kranti explained.
In the post-match press conference, even skipper Deepti lauded the youngster’s performance. “I’m very impressed with her bowling. She’s young and inexperienced but she’s a good learner. She eagerly listens to what is told to her and sticks to the plans discussed. As a captain, you don’t want anything more.”
In a conversation with her sister after the match, Kranti — the youngest of six siblings — got to know how her father would go out of the house and celebrate with the people of their neighbourhood for every wicket she took.
But, not everyone in that colony in Madhya Pradesh was supportive of Kranti’s wish to take up the sport many years back.
A happy accident
The 21-year-old pacer came into her first WPL on the back of a successful Senior Women’s ODI Trophy. Her 15-wicket tournament haul, including a four-fer in the final against Bengal, helped MP clinch its maiden title.
“When we won the ODI trophy, I was welcomed home with a lot of pomp. The people who used to taunt me were part of the group welcoming me. I felt good seeing that because they must have realised how they shouldn’t have said those things in the past,” Kranti recalled.
Hailing from a small village called Ghaura in the Chhatarpur district of the Sagar Division, a young Kranti grew up watching boys play tennis-ball cricket on the ground opposite their house. She wasn’t interested in the games the girls were playing, she was only glued to the cricket.
“ Wo log jab shot maare, aur maine utha ke de diya ball, tab laga ki cricket hi khelna chahiye (When they hit a shot and I threw the ball back to them, it was then when I knew I wanted to play cricket).”
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While her family backed her throughout, there were naysayers in the initial days. “The neighbourhood’s aunties would advise my mother against sending me out to play since I am a girl,” Kranti said. But, her mother wouldn’t pay heed to them.
After tagging along with the boys to tennis-ball cricket tournaments for a few years, it was when she was about 15 years old that Kranti played her first-ever game with a leather ball. How it came to be was quite serendipitous.
“There was a Vidhayak Cup tournament happening where two girl’s teams were playing. One of the teams had a player short. I’d gone to watch the matches with a stick in my hand. Someone came and asked me if I wanted to play, and I said yes. That was my life’s first-ever match with a leather ball and I ended up as the Player of the Match with three wickets and 25 runs,” Kranti reminisced.
“After I finished my second match in another tournament, I met Rajiv [Bilthare] sir there. He came up to me and asked me whether I’d joined any academy. He guided me and explained how to go forward in this sport,” Kranti said.
Rajiv Bilthare, 56, founded the Sai Sports Academy in 2013 to bring back leather-ball cricket in Chhatarpur. He first met Kranti in 2017 during a tournament when the player’s father asked the coach to take her under his wing.
Rajiv Bilthare, 56, founded the Sai Sports Academy in 2013 to bring back leather-ball cricket in Chhatarpur.
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Special Arrangement
Rajiv Bilthare, 56, founded the Sai Sports Academy in 2013 to bring back leather-ball cricket in Chhatarpur.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
However, just as she’d started playing, Kranti’s father lost his job in the police force. With the rent at Chhatrapur being quite high, it wasn’t financially viable for her to stay at the academy. Instead, she would spend one week at a time living with Bilthare and his family and come back to implement what she learnt for the next few months.
“ Iske andar furti bohot hai (She has a lot of speed in her),” Bilthare, remembering the first time he saw Kranti play, told Sportstar over a call. “That Meg Lanning wicket was a result of Kranti’s natural ability to swing the ball inwards. I’m very happy.”
Kranti swiftly moved up the ranks. In her first Division match, she scored 137 runs and took seven wickets which earned her a place in the U-16 State team. But, such was her talent, that she was bumped up to the U-19 level.
Just after the lockdown was lifted during the COVID-19 pandemic, she debuted for the senior team. But it was in this recent domestic season that she started being a regular in the side.
WPL and sharing knowledge
On December 15, 2024, Kranti and her MP teammates were sitting in her room, eagerly watching on as the WPL auction was underway.
“There were seven of us who had our names there, and mine was first. When UPW picked me, everyone became emotional. The feeling was inexplicable. I cried happy tears,” Kranti said.
While UP Warriorz secured the pacer’s services for Rs. 10 lakh, Kranti did spend some time as a net bowler with the Mumbai Indians last year.
“I had to leave after my brother-in-law passed away. Despite spending just 10 days there, I learnt a lot, got to speak to Jhulan [Goswami] di and Kiran [More] sir. From this season, I hope that when I go back to my academy, I can share whatever I have learnt with the players there.”
Next up, the Warriorz and Kranti face defending champion Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Monday. While she is excited for the match – and the memory of castling Richa Ghosh in that Senior ODI final remains fresh in her mind – Kranti looks forward to sticking to her strengths as she hopes to get as much as she can from this campaign.
