WPL 2024: The Journey of Footballer-turned-cricketer Saima Thakor – News18

In her maiden WPL season, UP Warriorz pacer Saima Thakor has surely left an impression. The 27-year-old made her name in the domestic circuit with a series of eye-catching performances in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy for Mumbai last year. She took 11 wickets in 10 matches at an economy of 4.93. It then helped her land a contract with UPW and she made her debut for the franchise in WPL 2024 in their season-opening fixture against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

“It’s all like a dream for me, always used to think about when I’ll get to play with the top stars and now when it has become a reality, that feeling hasn’t sunk in yet. I am feeling quite good. I have put in a lot of hard work, so it’s not that I am taking anything for granted,” Thakor told CricketNext in an exclusive conversation.

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Thakor has come a long way, crossing several hurdles in her journey. Coming from a humble background, the pacer shared how she turned from a footballer to a cricketer.

“A lot of people don’t know this, but I used to play football initially and started cricket very late. There was a cricket team in our junior college and they needed two or three players to form a team so they picked a few girls from other sports and I was one of them. Then someone suggested that I must take up cricket seriously so I thought about pursuing it as there wasn’t a lot of scope in football then. So, I started putting in the hard work. I have an elder brother and a cousin, so I used to play with them, and I had a fair bit of an idea about cricket,” stated Thakor.

Thakor though didn’t want to become a bowler initially. “My father is a driver, so we have faced a lot of financial difficulties. We all know cricket is an expensive game and I wanted to be a wicketkeeper but it requires a lot of things. I also wanted to do something for my family.

“So I asked my father to give me a couple of years, but he wanted me to take up a job to help the family but then they supported me a lot. However, they gave me a deadline. I am happy that quite a lot of things worked out in my favour during that period and luckily, our match fees also increased. So I was able to take care of my requirements on my own.  It has been a good journey but definitely not an easy one.”

Thakor also credited Warriorz for helping her become a better cricketer.

“Firstly, I have learnt how to be calm. Our captain Alyssa Healy doesn’t react to a lot of things. She is very calm and mostly focused on working on everyone’s thinking. Whereas our game changer Deepti (Sharma) has a very motivating attitude. Grace Harris has some different energy levels. She keeps on motivating the players.

“We have a lot of players to talk to. When I am bowling, Tahlia McGrath mostly stays with me. She keeps telling me a lot of things and shares her experience. While we were playing against DC, all these things fell in place and for me as a newcomer, it worked out well,” Thakor said.

So far, the WPL season has received a lot of love from the fans, especially how they turned up in huge numbers during the first leg of the tournament at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Thanking fans for the support, Thakor said, “Till a few years back, a lot of people did not even know that there was even a women’s cricket team. So, we have come a long way. We are getting to see the encouragement from the crowd.

“In Bengaluru, whenever we played against RCB, they were encouraging us, screaming out our names and they were very positive. We were not even feeling awkward. I was playing for the first time on such a big ground and nervousness was bound to happen but there was nothing like that.

“We are very happy that people are coming and watching matches, especially the last-ball finishes that people are getting to see. It’s good that people are getting to know that matches can be interesting even in women’s cricket. Their perspective is getting changed and players are getting recognised,” Thakor said.

In the ongoing season, Warriorz have managed only three wins in seven matches. Reflecting on the team’s performance so far and approach for the coming fixture, Thakor said, “Our team is a very balanced one, only our execution went haywire in one or two games. Otherwise, we have great players with us. From coaching staff to mentors, we have great people around us and everyone is working hard. All our players are keen to take the responsibility. It will take some time to form a team but once the team is formed then definitely we’ll be an unbeatable side.”

In UPW’s last game against DC, Thakor took the important wickets of Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues while defending the target of 139 runs.

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However, Deepti Sharma was the star of the night who brought UPW back in the game in the 19th over. With a hat-trick and a fifty with the bat, she was undoubtedly the game-changer as UPW won by one run.

“Deepti is a game changer. Whenever the team needs her – with the bat or the ball – she is the first person to come and take the responsibility. I am glad to have such senior players among us. And talking about the game against Delhi, we never thought victory is out of our reach. Even in the last over when there was a six which could’ve been caught, we all backed Poonam Khemnar (who missed the catch) and that we would get a chance, and we were going to make this work for the team. We didn’t think that 139 could be easily chased. We went there to just win,” said Thakor.