3 reasons why Arundhati Reddy is the most important player towards India winning Women's T20 World Cup 2024
Indian pacer Arundhati Reddy earned the Player of the Match award for her impressive performance in the Women's T20 World Cup fixture against Pakistan in Dubai on Sunday, October 6. She returned with figures of 3/19 off four overs, while taking the wickets of experienced campaigners Aliya Riaz and Nida Dar.
Interestingly, Reddy returned to the side after three years in July 2024. Due to her inability to take enough wickets, the 27-year-old was dropped from the squad.
Reddy climbed back to the national team with decent performances in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024. She scalped eight wickets in nine games at an economy of 7.62 for the Delhi Capitals, who finished runners-up.
In Pooja Vastrakar's absence due to niggle, Reddy was slotted in the XI, and she made the opportunity count. It will be interesting to see if she can continue the same form in the showpiece event.
On that note, let's take a look at why Arundhati Reddy could play a key role in helping the Indian team win their maiden Women's T20 World Cup title.
#1 Arundhati Reddy's batting skills can work wonders in crunch moments
With only 74 runs in 31 T20Is, Arundhati Reddy is yet to showcase her batting skills. She has got a chance to bat on just 14 occasions, but Reddy has a lot to offer with the willow.
In the Senior Women's Inter Zonal One Day Trophy 2024, Reddy was the finest batter for South Zone with 226 runs in five innings.
The Senior Women Inter Zonal Multi-Day Trophy 2023-24 witnessed Reddy scoring 174 runs in four innings, with a top score of 85 for South Zone. Her efforts paved the way for the team to finish as runners-up.
Hence, Reddy could be a crucial batter in the lower order for India.
#2 Several variations up her sleeves
In an interview with ESPNcricinfo, Delhi Capitals' fielding coach Biju George explained how Arundhati Reddy has improved her bowling variations in the past two years.
As per George, Reddy has worked on executing her yorkers better and can now swing the ball both ways. The game against Pakistan saw the right-arm pacer take the wicket of Omaima Sohail with a slower ball.
Here's what George said:
"At DC, she focused on skillsets. She was working on yorkers, her release points; she was not getting the ball to move initially, she was just sliding it down. But when we got the wrist position going right, she started bowling well and she started swinging [the ball] both ways. For batting, she was working with Arjun [Reddy's coach]. So batting also bloomed."
In the initial phase of her career, Reddy was primarily a swing bowler. However, since joining the Capitals in 2023, she has been accurate with her lengths and introduced various variations to outfox the batters.
#3 Three-year international hiatus has made her mentally strong
During her three-year absence from international cricket, Arundhati Reddy also faced a lack of opportunites with the Railway side in domestic cricket. As a result, she opted to play for Kerala from the 2023-24 domestic season.
With a secure place in the XI, Reddy has worked to become a better version of herself. The notable performances for Kerala and Delhi Capitals helped her to make an international comeback.
Here's what she said on finally getting her second coming after a rough last few years (via ESPNcricinfo):
"I think, for me, honestly, I wanted to play for India again, the last three, three-and-a-half years was a bad patch personally. It was about what needs to be done, what I need to be improving in. The main focus was to be the best all-rounder in the world. So I prepared in a certain way that when I come in, I know I can win games for India."