CWG 2022: RENUKA SINGH THAKUR: A Star in the Making!!!

RENUKA SINGH THAKUR: A Star in the Making!!!

Renuka Singh Thakur, an Indian pace bowler, grabbed headlines yesterday after she jolted the Australian women’s cricket team with four quick wickets in their Group A match at the 2022 Birmingham Games.

Her stats of 4.0-0-18-4 provided an excellent platform for the Women in Blue. Still, just as they started taking control of the match, World Champions Australia deflated their enthusiasm as they stormed out victorious.

Nonetheless, Renuka Singh’s four strikes dominated the narrative, leaving social media ablaze with plaudits for the former’s exploits.

Renuka Singh Thakur hails from Parsa, a village in Himachal Pradesh’s Rohru district. She lost her father, Kehar Singh, a die-hard cricket lover when she was just three years old. Renuka soon developed a passion for cricket while she was still in school.

Her uncle Bhupinder Singh Thakur convinced her family to enrol young Renuka in a cricket camp. She attended the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association’s Women’s Residential Academy in Dharamshala, and her cricketing career ascended from there.

Renuka was just 13 years old at the time. She left her family behind and moved to Dharamshala, trying to make the most of every opportunity. She was an admirer of South African pace sensation Dale Steyn and would often observe his performances on the pitch.

She made waves on the local scene after taking 21 wickets for Himachal Pradesh in the 2018-19 campaign, which earned her a call-up to the Challenger Trophy team. Renuka was subsequently called up to the India A squad, which played Australia. In the domestic scene, she plays for Team Uttar Pradesh.

Renuka Singh Thakur

That's it! That's the tweet!#CWG22 #Birmingham2022 #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/HeMKb9Qmof

— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) July 29, 2022

Singh had the most wickets in the 2019-20 Senior Women’s One Day League, with 23. She received her first call-up to the India women’s cricket side in 2021for a series against Australia. She then played her debut Women’s T-20I for India against Australia.

In 2022, she was selected in the Indian squad for the Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand later this year. In February, she made her Women’s One Day International debut for India against New Zealand. Following that, she was also picked for India’s cricket team for CWG 2022 in Birmingham, England.

Renuka’s four-wicket haul against mighty Australia in the Commonwealth Games premiere in Birmingham was an emotional moment for her friends and family.

She spearheaded the rapid onslaught against a star-studded Australian outfit, unsettling the top batters from the word GO. The 26-year-old provided the best possible start for India, dismissing world-class players like Healy, Lanning, Mooney, and McGrath within four overs.