From paddy fields to cricket field, Kerala’s Minnu Mani hits a sixer

The 24-year-old tribal woman Minnu Mani belonging to the Kurichya community in Mananthavady here recently received her maiden call-up to the Indian women’s cricket team led by Harmanpreet Kaur for the Bangladesh tour.

Years ago, there was a girl who yearned to step onto the paddy field in her tribal hamlet and play cricket with boys in the neighbourhood till dusk at Choyimoola in this district. The conservative outlook of the community members, the constant chiding by her mother and the reminders of her gender did not dampen the girl’s zeal for playing the game.

With the lessons learnt at the dry mudcrack paddy field here, Minnu Mani is all set to represent the country in the upcoming T20 series against Bangladesh.

The 24-year-old tribal woman belonging to the Kurichya community in Mananthavady here recently received her maiden call-up to the Indian women’s cricket team led by Harmanpreet Kaur for the Bangladesh tour. She thus became first ever player from Kerala to be picked in the Indian women’s team.

An elated Minnu Mani said those childhood days on the rough paddy field had actually moulded the fearless cricketer in her.

“During those days, I would play cricket with boys at the field throughout the day. I never wanted to sit somewhere idle. I wanted to jump, run and play and cricket was my passion,” Minnu Mani said.

The woman said she gained the strength to approach the real game with a fearless mindset through the cricket lessons from her village field.

“Boys would use hard tennis balls while playing cricket. Those experiences helped me a lot to gain strength to approach the real game fearlessly,” she recalled.