Appeal to raise funds for two flood-affected Kerala Women cricketers – S Sajana and Minnu Mani

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S Sajana received the best news of her life on August 2 this year. She had led Kerala Under-23 to the inter-state Twenty20 title in the previous season and scored a 84-ball 100 – the fastest recorded century in age-group women’s cricket in India – against Tamil Nadu in the 50-over format. She had also made a mark with the senior state team, and the national selectors named her in the India Green squad for the Twenty20 Challenger Trophy.

Daughter of an auto driver, Sajana, who has done her BA in Political Science, now had a chance to live her dream by sharing the dressing room with Jhulan Goswami and Veda Krishnamurthy, and playing against Mithali Raj, one of her favourite cricketers. She decided to use the bat Gautam Gambhir had gifted her a few months back. But the good news was followed by bad news.

Sajana had to report for the tournament in Alur on the outskirts of Bangalore on August 12. A few days before that her house in Wayanad bore the brunt of the devastating Kerala flood, which has affected over 10 million people.

“For two to three days water was surrounding our house. It was very difficult for us to come out of our house,” Sajana, currently staying in a hostel in Bangalore even as her parents and younger brother are getting the house back to shape, told Women’s CricZone. “The rescue team came by boat and got us out. After that, I took the bus to Bangalore and reported in the team hotel as scheduled. Things are getting better. Water has reduced, but a lot of waste and mud is still in home.”

Sajana could not do much in the Challenger Trophy, but Suman Sharma, the Kerala coach, believes her ward is a long-term prospect because of the hardships she has faced in life. “The money she earns from playing matches, she contributes from that for daily expenses at her house,” Suman said. “She is an outstanding all-rounder. Her leadership was one of the reasons why we won the Under-23 title. The team handled the pressure situations well. She was calm and took the right decisions.”

Less than four kilometres away from where Sajana lives is the house of Minnu Mani, another promising talent who was the Under-19 captain last season and also represented the senior team. Her father is a daily wage labourer who works in agricultural fields. Minnu lives in the Kerala Cricket Association’s residential academy in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city. When she rushed back to Wayanad a few days after the flood, she could not recognise her house.

“Currently just a small shed in our home is in livable condition, where we are staying,” Minnu, a third-year BA, Economics student who looks up to Jonty Rhodes, told. “We are waiting for the rain to subside before we start the process of building a new home.”

Suman is an admirer of Minnu's athleticism. “We won three to four Under-19 matches last season just because of her outstanding fielding. She effected some brilliant run outs that are difficult to imagine. She is the only Under-19 player who has matured, so there was a lot of pressure on her, but once she came to the senior team she played much freely.”

Like with many others, KCA takes good care of Sajana and Minnu, but now the needs are more because they have homes to resurrect. David Johnson, the former India pacer, has spoken to few sports goods manufacturing companies to arrange a kit contract for Sajana but there has been no progress yet on that front.

Rohan Pate, the owner of Blades of Glory, the world's biggest private cricket museum based out of Pune, has come on board to sponsor two full-fledged cricket kit bags for the girls.

With more help, Sajana and Minnu can stop worrying about the challenges and focus completely on their cricket career.

 

Please make your financial contribution for Sajana and Minnu to:

Account Name: Posiview Marg Foundation

Bank Name: Central Bank of India

Branch: Kothrud, Pune

Account Number: 3548255762

IFSC Code: CBIN0283389

Account Type: Current Account

Else, you can make your contributions here: Donate Here

In case you are interested to sponsor them on a long-term basis, please get in touch with us on support@womenscriczone.com

There will be regular updates on the progress of this fund-raising initiative through Women’s CricZone’s social media platforms.