Fitness is getting creative as gym equipment is not available at home. I am making do with the resources I have. I'm being given a schedule I can follow by my trainer. Of course it is not close to the exercises I can do in the gym. But I am trying to do as much as I can to maintain my strength.Collection: Fitness
Cricket is not gender biased. It isn't that men's cricket is different and women's a different one.Collection: Men
I am from a south Indian Tamilian family, so all my cousins are into academics and I alone was in sports.Collection: Sports
I love sleeping and to inculcate the habit of early rising, my dad forced me to take up a sport. That was the only reason I started playing cricket in the first place. And thereafter it continued.Collection: Dad
The more you win, the brand of women's cricket will go higher.Collection: Women
If you keep winning, people will stay glued to our cricket.
There will always be people who will criticise you without knowing the facts.
I would love to mentor youngsters.
When I got associated with Australian Diamonds, I started to know more about it, things like certificate of assurance and that they are sourced from a trusted and iconic mine... If you are spending so much, you should know from where the diamond is coming.
Cricket was never my first choice. I never wanted to be a sportsperson. It just happened. It was destiny.
Men's cricket sets the bar. We are always trying to reach where they set the standard.
I'm not saying the fact that I am the best T20 player. No! I know where I stand.
All of us follow men's cricket because we want at some point that women's cricket would be up there.
Tamil is my mother tongue.
All of us at some point have been coached by a male cricketer. I strongly believe that they get a lot of intensity into the training sessions. They are very hard taskmasters.
Sometimes, I sketch, but not every day. I sketch random things, whatever I can get my mind into. I'm not a professional, it is just a hobby I've started.
There are expectations in everyone's lives. It might be small or big, but then you cannot forget to prioritise what is important and try to focus when it is really needed.
As a young kid in the beginning, I myself did not know that there was women's cricket in India or that there is an Indian women's cricket team.
When we talk about knowledge or tactical plans, if a woman coach has the capability, then she should surely get an opportunity to coach the Indian men's team.
When we left Mumbai to play in the World Cup there were hardly any journalists to see us off. But when we returned to India on July 25 having made the final, there were close to a hundred journalists at 2.30 in the morning. It was totally new.
But growing as an India cricketer it was about the blue jersey and the pride we all felt wearing that jersey.
I have captained India in two World Cup finals. I definitely want to win the World Cup before I retire.
My teammates will tell you I find it hard to remember what happened two weeks earlier, let alone what happened a decade and a half back.
It is the pride to play for India that keeps me going. Not many get a chance to play for India and I feel very fortunate to be still playing. The will to do well for India is a big motivation.
With more sponsors coming in, media engagements happening, and matches being televised, youngsters can get carried away. In such a scenario, a mentor can step in and help in channelising the cricketers' energies into the sport.
Although I am not in the thick of things when it comes to T20 cricket, but as an ODI captain, I'd like to give more stability to the players.
It's not just about women's cricket, but everywhere, every athlete's momentum has been broken because of Covid-19.
Let's say something like Olympics is happening, I will definitely watch because that is something which is live after so many months. I think sports will definitely get people to watch.
But if you have live matches and there is TV coverage, I'm sure you have more viewership because people would love to see women's cricket again on television.
Initially, I was into dance and learnt Bharatnatyam for eight years. I appeared on various TV shows.
Unless there is branding, players will not get adequate payment. Why do we want matches to be televised? Why do we want people to turn up for our matches? That's how you will generate revenue.
There are a lot of misconceptions that we can't play fast bowling or we can't bowl fast. We should have mixed matches. I have also played a lot of matches against boys because that's how we train.
Even at home I always play with the boys, I only play with the girls when I am closer to the tournament or a series.
As a batter, I would want to see that the best bowler is in my side so I don't have to face him.
A lot of people have a different perspective on this but my personal view is that while things have become more professional with we being centrally contracted, we don't play as regularly as the men do. The number of matches we play is too less as compared to men.
Well, I think the turning point, in my opinion, has to be 2006 as in that year we came under BCCI. With that a lot of facilities were provided to us, a lot of things changed for good and better.
All the people who were needed to be told about my decision were informed. 2021 World Cup would definitely be my swansong. I am looking forward to preparing for the World Cup.
I do not make decisions based on emotion, because it is my career and I would like to be more practical when it comes to career.
I think at some level the ICC is trying to promote the women's game globally and that requires them to focus more on ODI and T20I cricket. They are trying to revive the game.
When I am playing, I try to keep the genre very easy-going and breezy. I can't be into the book and not be into the profession I am in.
A couple of my friends told me to get into cooking but I have not been able to get myself into the kitchen.
We get to play every team before the World Cup, touring in different conditions besides a few series at home. It gives a lot of opportunities to the youngsters. As we play more, we get to see who a quality player is and what plans and strategies would work for the team.
With central contracts, you are very well looked after by the board. You do not have to be bothered about anything else. Just put in the hard work and do well for the country.
The World Cup, as an event, carries a lot of pressure, irrespective of the number of caps you have earned, and the pressure doubles when you play at home.
If only a few games are televised and you don't have a follow-up, like no live coverage of the Sri Lanka series after the Australia series, where we did so well, things will not improve.
But as a player, you feel sad that at this level you are being singled out for the fact that I stood up for myself. I have not done anything wrong standing up for myself.
Honestly, during the 2018 World Cup itself, I was saying T20 World Cup was going to be my last.
My dad and some of them felt I should be playing on home soil and retire in front of the home crowd.
Even though I am someone who played one-dayers more, I have equally prepared hard for the T20 format too.
Obviously, we don't want to go into a World Cup thinking low about the team. We are very positive and had some good practice matches, which should give us confidence.