Meet 16-Year-Old Anagha Murali, Selected To Play In Women’s T20 Challenge

The IPL T20 Women’s Challenge was announced officially on Sunday when the BCCI announced the schedule and squads for the three teams. The three teams – Supernovas, Trailblazers, and Velocity will play 3 round-robin matches followed by the finals, during the IPL Playoff between November 4-9. While some of the most prominent Indian and international players will lock horns, WIPL will also give emerging talent to play with and against the best in the game. One such girl is Anagha Murali, who at 16 becomes one of the youngest players to grace this showcase event.

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Hailing from Karnataka, Anagha will don the purple of Velocity, where she will play alongside international superstars like Mithali Raj, Danielle Wyatt and Shafali Verma, to name a few. The teenager took up the game of cricket just 5 years back when she joined Herons CC under the mentorship of esteemed coach, K Muralidhara.

As mentioned in The Hindu, Anagha’s father said, “Muralidhara spotted her talent early. When he said that Anagha should try out for the Karnataka U-16 side, we were surprised. She had only started her formal cricket training two weeks earlier. But Muralidhara was confident, and he was proved right.”

Anagha was destined for big things ever since she started her professional training. Merely two weeks into her training, she was scouted and selected in the Karnataka U19 team. After solid performances at the youth level, she progressed to her state’s U19 side. Anagha has already had a taste of franchise cricket when she played an exhibition match at the Karnataka Premier League.

The 16-year-old plies her trade in the game as a slow left-arm and is known for her exceptional performances at the youth level. Adding to this, she’s a skillful batter and would hope to put up an all-round performance at the third edition of WIPL.

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Anagha will look to take inspiration and follow the footsteps of her Velocity teammate, Shafali Verma. Her big-hitting antics at last year’s WIPL propelled her to the Indian team and has since consolidated her position in the national side. Shafali was just 15 when she got her big break at the WIPL and hasn’t looked back since. Anagha will be hoping to do much of the same for the Mithali Raj-led IPL Velocity.

Velocity will kick off the tournament on the 4th of November when they take on defending champions, Harmanpreet Kaur-led Supernovas. Supernovas have won the IPL Women’s T20 Challenge on both the previous editions.

This story was published first on Female Cricket.