Shikha Pandey

Shikha Pandey
Personal information
Born 12 May 1989
Karimnagar, Goa
Batting style Right-handed
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Role All rounder
International information
National side
  • India
Source: Cricinfo, 28 November 2014

Shikha Pandey (born 12 May 1989) is an Indian cricketer. She was born in Karimnagar, Goa. She made her international Twenty20 (T20) debut on 9 March 2014 while playing against Bangladesh at Cox's Bazar cricket stadium in Bangladesh.[1][2] In August of the same year, she made her One Day International cricket (ODI) and Test cricket debut while playing against England at Wormsley and Scarborough respectively. As of 27 November 2014 she has played two Tests, three ODIs and six T20s for India.[3]

Early life

Pandey did her schooling under the Central Board of Secondary Education, India. She holds a degree in Electronics and Electrical Engineering. In 2011, she joined Indian Air Force, and became an Air traffic controller.[4]

Cricket career

At the age of 15, Pandey was selected to play for Goa in 2004. Later at the age of 17 for the 2007–08 season, she was selected to play for Goa's Women Senior State Side. During a south zone under19 cricket tournament, former Indian women's team captain and then Indian coach ans south zone selector Purnima Rao encouraged her and motivated her to play for India. She took an year off from her engineering course and played in Board President's XI against the visiting England and West Indies teams in 2010 and January 2011 respectively. She continued to play for Goa and after 2013–14 season of Inter-State T20 tournament (Plate group) she was selected for India's tour of Bangladesh consisting 3 friendly matches with Bangladesh and 2014 ICC Women's World Twenty20.[5] After Dilip Sardesai, she is the first player from Goa to play for any Indian national team. She is also the first Goa Cricket Association affiliated cricketer to play international level cricket for India.[2][4][6] She is the first Goa-born player to play ODIs and international T20s and 2nd player to play Test cricket, after Saredesai,[7] thus becoming first cricketer to have played both state level cricket for Goa and international level cricket for India.[7] After the T20 World Cup, she played one-off Test match and 2 ODI matches against England.[8][9] She was instrumental in India's win against South Africa on 26 November 2014. She took 3 wickets and scored 59 runs.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "India recall Latika Kumari, Sravanthi Naidu for Women's WT20". ESPN Cricinfo. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "गोव्याची शिखा पांडे भारतीय क्रिकेट संघात" (in Marathi). Tarun Bharat. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Shikha Pandey". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Shikha, and engineering cricket dreams". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Goa's Shikha Pandey makes India cut". The Times of India (The Times Group). 22 February 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "शिखा बनली गोव्याची पहिली महिला कसोटीपटू" (in Marathi). eskal.com. 14 August 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Shikha close to ending Goa's 53-year drought". The Times of India (The Times Group). 22 February 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "All round record – Shikha Pandey ODI". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "All round record- Shikha Pandey Test cricket". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "Shikha Pandey helps India level series against South Africa". Hindustan Times (HT Media). 27 November 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.