Rajeshwari Gayakwad Biography :

Full Name	Rajeshwari Gayakwad
Date of Birth	1 June, 1991
Birthplace	Bijapur, Karnataka
Age	31 years old
Nationality	Indian
Role	Bowler
Batting	Right-hand batter
Bowling	Left-arm orthodox
ODI Debut	19 January 2014 v Sri Lanka
T20 Debut	25 January 2014 v Sri Lanka
Test Debut	16 November 2014 v South Africa
Weight	60 kgs
Height	5’6 ft

Rajeshwari Gayakwad Early Life

Rajeshwari Gayakwad’s family is the perfect family a sportsperson needs. Everyone from her family has excelled in one sport or the other, and there has been no restrictions on her cricket whatsoever. Rajeshwari has two brother and two sisters.

Her brothers, Kashinath and Vishwanath have been active in sports since childhood. While one took interest in volleyball, the other decided to make a career in badminton. The situation is similar amongst her sisters as well. While Rameshwari Gayakwad is a hockey player, Bhuvaneshwari Gayakwad has represented her state in cricket.

Hence, her family has got the entire spectrum of sports covered. But cricket was not what Rajeshwari wanted to play when she was a child. Though always interested in sports, she was more inclined to javelin throw and discus throw. Unlike in many other stories where we would see fathers being strict and not allowing their daughters the play, Gayakwad’s story was different.

Late Shivanand Gayakwad, who worked as a teacher, always wanted her daughter to excel in sports. In particular, he nurtured a dream to watch her daughter play for the national team. Hence, it was him who pushed Rajeshwari into cricket, keeping javelin throw and discus throw on the backseat.

Rajeshwari Gayakwad Domestic Career

She started playing cricket seriously only when she was 18. Prior to that, javelin and discus used to give her company. However, her talent soon earned her a call up in the Karnataka Women’s side. Since then, there has not been any looking back for her since. However, Gayakwad still did not want to entirely give up on her academics.

Hence, from the small state of Bijapur, she moved to Bengaluru after completing her school-level education. She pursued a Bachelors degree in arts, as she was still not sure that cricket is a viable career option for women in India. But all of his, her father stood beside him like a pillar.

That pillar fell off in a terribly unfortunate incident in 2014. Gayakwad got selected for the Indian team in January 2014. It had only been a few months of her in an Indian kit, and the Late Shivanand Gayakwad was living her dream of watching her daughter play for India.

Alongside her daughter, he was watching a game of the Indian Premier League in 2014. It was in the stadium that he had a massive heart attack. Gayakwad lost his father just a few months after her debut, and till date, she wishes he would have been alive to enjoy all the success she has got over the years.

Rajeshwari Gayakwad International Career

Gayakwad’s debut came in January 2014. It was an ODI match against Sri Lanka at Visakhapatnam. In 7.3 overs, Gayakwad conceded just 11 runs and also took 2 wickets. Her spell also included 3 maidens. Sripali Weerakkody and Chandima Gunaratne were the batters who lost their wickets to Gayakwad.

Rajeshwari Gayakwad produced her best ever ODI figures of 5/15 to help India book a #WWC17 Semi Final spot as they thrashed New Zealand in Derby. #BestOf2017 pic.twitter.com/vQqM7oJ1Hf

— ICC (@ICC) December 17, 2017

Her T20I debut came about a week later, against the same opposition at Vizianagaram. In this game, she conceded just 24 runs in 4 overs and also took 3 wickets. Yasoda Mendis, Oshadi Ranasinghe and the Sri Lankan skipper Shasikala Siriwardene were the batters Gayakwad got the better of.

Her Test debut came in November of same year, against South Africa at Tamil Nadu. In her very first Test match, Gayakwad took 5 wickets. Centurian Mignon du Preez was the most notable of these 5. She got the better of Marizanne Kapp in both the innings.

Rajeshwari Gayakwad Facts and Achievements

Gayakwad is the first player from Bijapur, the district she was born, to represent the nation in women’s cricket. She also has a 5-wicket haul to her name in an ICC Women’s World Cup. That happened in the 2017 edition of the tournament, against New Zealand. She is also 9th in the list of all time highest-wicket takers for India in women’s ODIs.

Rajeshwari Gayakwad reflects on career best performance (5/15) and #WWC17 experience – https://t.co/ZFDW2RFo4y

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) July 29, 2017

Rajeshwari Gayakwad Stats

Gayakwad has played only 54 ODI matches till date, and has still got 88 wickets to her name. She has maintained an economy rate of just over 3.56 runs per over. In the 35 T20Is she has played, Gayakwad has picked up 45 wickets.

Her economy rate in T20Is is just over 6 runs per over. She has one international 5-wicket haul, and five 4-wicket hauls to her credit.

Rajeshwari Batting and Fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	4s	6s
ODI	54	17	17	5	2.1	23.0	–	–
T20I	35	10	10	5*	–	76.9	–	–
Test	2	0	0	–	–	–	–	–

Rajeshwari Bowling averages

	Mat	Overs	Runs	Wkts	BBI	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w
ODI	54	472.3	1684	88	5/15	19.1	3.56	32.2	5	1
T20I	35	125.5	803	45	3/9	17.8	6.38	16.8	0	0
Test	2	79.0	145	5	4/54	29.0	1.83	94.8	1	0

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