February 25 will mark five years since Chandigarh’s Kashvee Gautam took all 10 wickets against Arunachal Pradesh in an Under -19 One Day Trophy match.
Now 21 years old and playing for the Gujarat Giants in the Women’s Premier League (WPL), the pacer has put in a lot of work to improve her bowling.
Hat-trick ✅
10 wickets in a one-day game ✅
49 runs with the bat ✅
Leading from the front ✅
4.5-1-12-10! 👌👌
Kashvee Gautam stars as Chandigarh beat Arunachal Pradesh in the @paytm Women’s Under 19 One Day Trophy. 👏👏 #U19Oneday
Scorecard 👉👉 https://t.co/X8jDMMh5PSpic.twitter.com/GWUW9uUgtF
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) February 25, 2020
“My ability to swing the ball inwards was always strong. I think the pace at which I bowl has increased. Recently, I bowled at around 110 kmph. My swing has become sharper and now I hit the deck hard while bowling. Before, I would float the ball. The more you watch cricket, the more you learn,” Kashvee told Sportstar on the sidelines of the ongoing iteration of the WPL.
But, she has had to wait to show her evolution in the WPL.
During the last WPL auction, Kashvee became the most expensive uncapped player, picked by the Giants for INR 2 crore. However, a fracture to the fifth metatarsal of her landing foot, sustained in December 2023, meant that her debut was delayed.
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“My foot was in a plaster for six to seven weeks. Then, I had to walk on crutches. My rehab started slowly, a bit later because the bone wasn’t healing quickly. First it was batting. Then, I started jogging. Bowling came last.”
“Initially, it was tough to keep her motivated when it was confirmed that she would miss WPL,” Kashvee’s coach Nagesh Gupta recalled. “But she soon realised that she would have to fight with the injury in order to get better.”
Kashvee Gautam hits a boundary for Gujarat Giants in their Women’s Premier League 2025 match against Mumbai Indians at the BCA Stadium, Vadodara.
| Photo Credit:
Sportzpics for WPL
Kashvee Gautam hits a boundary for Gujarat Giants in their Women’s Premier League 2025 match against Mumbai Indians at the BCA Stadium, Vadodara.
| Photo Credit:
Sportzpics for WPL
Kashvee was sidelined for almost 10 months and returned to full fitness only in October last year. However, she used this phase to learn a few lessons, which are bearing fruits now.
“It took some time but I learnt a lot. I worked on other things like my mental health. When I play now, those things are coming to use,” Kashvee said. It was during those tough months that the youngster learnt the value of being mentally strong.
“Mental health, at any level, plays a very important role. Until the time we aren’t fit here (pointing to the head), we won’t be able to express ourselves freely.”
Kashvee also had a small group of well-wishers, her rocks, to help her get through it all. These included her family, Nagesh, and her wellness coach Sanjeevan. “Their support was so strong that I never felt I was going through an injury,” she said.
But there was one more person whose constant presence helped Kashvee, one of her closest friends, Kanika Ahuja.
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Kanika, playing her second season with Royal Challengers Bengaluru now, was due to play last year after she was retained by the eventual champion. Unfortunately, she too was ruled out of the campaign due to a stress fracture in her back.
While these injuries meant no franchise cricket for both, the old friends made sure to be there for each other.
“My bond with her [Kanika] goes way back to when I started playing in Punjab about seven years back. Whenever we meet, it doesn’t feel like we are seeing each other after a long time,” Kashvee said.
“Our respective teams would train and we would sit together and collectively get that feeling of missing out, but we didn’t have a choice. We supported each other during that phase. Even when we went home, we would make it a point to call each other at least once a week. Sometimes we would even complain to each other about the time our injuries were taking to heal.”
Kashvee Gautam of Gujarat Giants celebrates taking a wicket of Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League 2025 (WPL).
| Photo Credit:
Sportzpics for WPL
Kashvee Gautam of Gujarat Giants celebrates taking a wicket of Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League 2025 (WPL).
| Photo Credit:
Sportzpics for WPL
Kashvee recovered from her fracture just in time for the 2024-25 domestic season, and pleasantly surprised herself with her performances. In three tournaments, she took 17 wickets.
“I didn’t expect to do a good job since I had little practice,” she said.
Kashvee’s most recent domestic outing was the Senior Women’s ODI Challenger Trophy, a tournament she won.
“In Chennai, the wicket was quite flat. Bowling there helped me figure out a lot of things, which I have implemented here. My main aim in that tournament was to keep my economy low, and I was successful in doing that,” she said.
Kashvee had the third-best economy in the ODI Challenger (3.85).
Even in the ongoing WPL, she has the third-best economy rate so far (5.77) and the second-best economy by a bowler in a match (3.75 vs UP Warriorz).
.@Giant_Cricket with 2️⃣ quick wickets 🙌
Priya Mishra and Kashvee Gautam do the damage in their first overs 👊#MI are 55/3 after 8 overs #TATAWPL | #GGvMIpic.twitter.com/9UrQz4uY12
— Women’s Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 18, 2025
While she’s constricting the flow of runs quite well, the way to look impactful in the WPL is to take wickets, according to her coach Nagesh Gupta. Kashvee hopes to repay the faith shown by the Gujarat Giants by doing just that.
“For me, it’s a good experience but there are nerves too. Playing in front of such huge crowds for the first time but it’s becoming easier with every match.”
