Taking up sport will change your entire life, gives you the feeling of handling anything: Dayalan Hemalatha

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu) : The International Women’s Day has always been a day where civil society celebrates the achievements of women across all industries. Dayalan Hemalatha, the Gujarat Giants’ opener who also bowls part-time off-spin, has urged girls and women to take up playing sports professionally as it’s a life-changing moment.

“I can say like take sport and because if you take it up, you'll be grateful for that because it will change your entire life, as well as your decision-making skills. It makes you more confident, aggressive, fearless and you then only think about like I can do anything and I can handle everything in my life,” said Hemalatha in an exclusive conversation with IANS. Unlike many cricketers who start young, Hemalatha, who has played nine ODIs and 15 T20Is for India so far, began her journey into the bubbling world of professional cricket at 18. Until then, cricket was just a street game she played with boys while growing up in Chennai.

“It's been very different because boys won't treat you like (as equal as them). They always said, ‘Be careful, don't stand there, you can't do this, you will not do these kind of things'. It made me more irritated because of how we can't do that. I always felt you can do it because it's cricket, that’s it.” “After that, I went into Tamil Nadu Cricket Association for the U19 and senior team as well in the same year. That's how it started. After that, I took up the sport very professionally. I started playing in Challengers, ZCA and India A. When I was 23, I represented India. That was a huge moment for me. I thought ‘I have achieved something big in my life’.”

“That moment is my dream come true. I always ran after that goal because I had only one goal - I have to play for India. But I didn’t know that I would achieve that in five years. That was a big thing for me and I always respect that. This is how my journey is. After that, everything has been changed. I used to go wherever I go. I always think about cricket. It's been like that." Her breakthrough into cricket came unexpectedly - through a district selection trial form given by a friend. “One of my friends knew that I was playing cricket. After my 12th standard exams, she gave me a paper and told me to go try for it, which was the district selection trials in this thing.” “Her words were, ‘Why not just try it?’ When I went for the trials nobody knew of it in my house - only me and my brother went. There, unfortunately, I got selected and after that we had to tell the parents,” recalled Hemalatha.

Her selection meant Hemalatha had to have that inevitable conversation at home. “I knew my family wouldn’t approve. My sister was an engineering topper, and they expected me to follow the same path. When I told them I wanted to pursue cricket, they questioned why - especially since I had scored 90 per cent in my 12th exams." “So they were thinking I could have gone for pursuing a good degree. I was thinking about B.Com or B.Sc but I took up BA Sociology so that I can focus more on cricket. In BA Sociology, you can study easily, so I took up the degree and I told them ‘I will try at least 2-3 years’.”

“If it does not work then I will do some other degree and will go to IT or something else. After that once I started playing cricket like Tamil Nadu, Challengers, and then India, my parents told me to do whatever you want to do.” As Hemalatha’s rise in cricket began, a wrist injury sustained in an accident in 2015-16 nearly derailed her career. It left her with a fully broken wrist and clouds of uncertainty on her aspirations to play cricket professionally. “So they told me I have to keep a plate inside and I cannot play for 1-2 years. It’s because if you keep the plate inside, you have to remove it again to play. With that plate, you cannot move your wrist like 360 degrees. I said ‘No, I am a cricketer I cannot take this risk’.”

“Then I went to some ayurvedic medicine specialist. So 2-3 months I was mentally off because I knew that this is my peak time in my cricket career, but suddenly everything has gone down.” But quitting was never an option for Hemalatha. Her family also suggested her to move on in life. But her love for the game wouldn't let her walk away from the sport she dearly loved. “So I was mentally and physically down, and my parents started saying that ‘It's okay, you wanted to try it and you have tried, it happened. Life has to move on so if you want to do something else in your life you can start doing that. Go study or something’.”

“Then I said no and it took some months. Then in the fifth month, I started playing cricket again because batting is my addiction. Even if I get up at 12 o'clock, 1 o'clock I'll take my bat and start doing shadow practice and this is how much mad I am.” “So then they said, ‘Okay after the fifth month you start playing cricket’. Then my mom said, ‘No one will stop you. You just go and play the Challengers’. Everyone faces that injury phase, but that time how you overcome that in your life is most important,” she concluded, with the determination which has been a standout aspect of her cricketing career.