Women's Cricket
Priya Mishra: Silencing villagers and now dismantling the Aussies
The 20-year-old's exploits saved India A from another humiliating whitewash by Australia A.
Priya Mishra scalped 5 wickets while conceding just 14 runs in 5 overs. (Photo credit: Instagram)
India A finally broke their losing streak in their tour of Australia with a resounding 171-run victory in the third ODI.
Leg-spinner Priya Mishra, playing her first match of the tour, was the star performer, taking a five-wicket haul to dismiss Australia A for a paltry 72 runs.
Despite the win, Australia A clinched the ODI series 2-1, having previously swept the T20 series 3-0.
India A's innings was anchored by half-centuries from Tejal Hasabnis and Raghvi Bist, along with valuable contributions from Sajeevan Sajana and captain Minnu Mani, allowing them to post a competitive total of 243 for 9.
Australia A's Maitlan Brown was the pick of the bowlers, taking three wickets.
Australia A's chase faltered from the start, losing early wickets to S Yashasri and Meghna Singh.
Priya Mishra then took center stage, taking a wicket with her first delivery and going on to dismantle the middle order, finishing with impressive figures of 5 for 14 in her five overs.
Priya’s announcement to the big stage of world cricket was loud and clear.
The youngster who idolises Mithali Raji but bowls leg-spinner recently earned a spot in the Gujarat Giants squad for the 2024 Women's Premier League.
Silencing critics from an early age
The spinner has a modest family background.
The Mishra family originally hails from Allahabad and Sandeep Mishra, her father works as an electrician in the Delhi Metro.
Growing up in her village, a young Priya developed interest in cricket at an early age but the neighbours were quick to judge her.
'How’s a girl child playing cricket?' they said but Priya's family remained steadfast and eventually moved to Delhi.
When studying at the Salwan Girls School in the heart of the nation’s capital, Priya began training at the age of 15 at the behest of a teacher.
Thereafter, Priya made rapid strides by making the Delhi U19 and U23 squads.
Notably, the young leg-spinner was also the highest wicket-taker in the Women’s Senior One-Day Trophy in 2023/24 with a total of 23 scalps to her name.
The ultimate goal, according to Priya, is to win the World Cup for India and with performances like this, she is slowly but surely knocking on the doors of the national squad.
