Is another Mithali Raj blossoming on the soil of Hyderabad?
Yes.
That is Gongadi Trisha.
She created history by scoring a century in the Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup. Nobody had achieved this feat earlier and she became the first Under-19 player in the world to become a centurion in the history of Women’s U-19 T20 World Cup. Her outstanding effort was recognized by the Telangana C M Revanth Reddy who announced a cash prize of Rs 1 crore for the golden girl.
The Indian women’s team coach Noosheen Al Khadeer said that Trisha peaked at just the right time and blew away the opposition. The coach was full of praise for Trisha’s high levels of confidence and concentration.
Trisha was born in Bhadrachalam on 15th Dec 2005. Her father Gongadi Rami Reddy, who was a fitness trainer in a private company, realised early that his daughter was gifted in sports. He encouraged her to play cricket regularly, left his job in Bhadrachalam, and moved to Secunderabad. After relocating to the twin cities, he enrolled her in the St. Johns Cricket Academy which has produced many famous cricketers of the state including VVS Laxman.
A few years later she was selected to represent Hyderabad and South Zone in junior age group tournaments. Trisha made her debut for the senior Hyderabad team in 2017 in the senior T20 League for Women. She then represented India ‘B’ in the 2021–22 Under-19 Women’s Cricket Challengers, as well as the 2021-22 Women’s Challenger Trophy.
Played a pivotal role
This year she played a pivotal role in India’s World Cup triumph. She aggregated 309 runs – the highest by any batter in the entire tournament (average 77.25 and strike rate 147.14) – and also took seven wickets to emerge as the winner of the Player of the Tournament award. Trisha dedicated the award to her father. “Because of him, I started playing cricket. I don’t think without him I would have been here,” said Trisha, who was also part of the team in 2023.
But such success is not new to her. Last year too, in the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup, she bagged the prestigious Player of the Tournament prize. No wonder her face always has a broad smile and seems to radiate happiness and confidence. Trisha is an ardent fan of Mithali Raj who was her idol when she was growing up. Now it is the legendary Mithali Raj who is singing her praises.
Mithali said: “When I met Trisha for the first time, she was a quiet girl. It was her father who was very enthusiastic as any father would be. But as I began watching her improvement, I was impressed. I asked her to bowl to me and I found that she was very accurate with her line even at her age. When she batted, it was wonderful to see her talent. If she continues to put in hard practice, she will go very far.”
Mithali’s words are prophetic. We must now wait and watch whether Mithali’s prediction about Trisha comes true in the near future.
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