Spinning a success story, the Chandu way

BENGALURU: Life has been a struggle for Karnataka’s off-spinner Chandu V. But that hasn’t come in the way of her chasing sporting dreams. The 27-year-old, who has been a regular in the state team since the 2014-15 season, is currently enjoying a purple patch. She topped the list of wicket-takers, with 10 wickets from three matches, in the recently concluded BCCI Senior Women’s Challenger Trophy.Before that, she led Karnataka’s bowling attack in the BCCI One-Day Trophy, claiming 14 wickets in six matches in the team's runners-up finish.
While her cricket journey has hit the highway, Chandu is looking forward to fulfilling two dreams. “I have two dreams — to play for the country and build a house for my mother,” said Chandu, who turned out for Team B in the Challenger tournament.
Born into a family with modest means, Chandu’s dreams are fuelled by her family’s everyday struggle. Chandu lives in Bengaluru with her parents Venkateshappa and Lakshmamma and siblings Dhanalakshmi, Pooja and Narayanaswamy in a humble dwelling.
“My father is a ward boy in a hospital and mother is a housemaid. My mother has struggled a lot so that I can go for cricket training,” she said.
The spinner was an accidental cricketer. Recalling her foray into the sport, she said, “I had no knowledge of cricket other than watching my brother, who was a university-level cricketer. When I was in the ninth standard, a coach named Divakar Jain conducted a cricket camp for girls in my school — Government High School, Agara. Impressed with my game, he introduced me to Irfan sir (Sait) and (Mohd) Naseeruddin sir from the Karnataka Institute of Cricket (KIOC).”
KIOC played a crucial role in moulding the cricketer in Chandu as she learnt valuable lessons, sharing nets with India internationals Karuna Jain, Vanitha V and Veda Krishnamurthy. “Training with them was a huge experience. I learnt a lot from them. Initially, I used to chuck the ball and the coaches corrected my action,” she pointed out.
In the 2014-15 season, Chandu made her senior team debut for Karnataka against Andhra in the Senior Women’s T20 League. Two seasons ago, she also claimed a hat-trick against Mumbai in the T20 tournament.
Chandu has been fortunate to find support from various quarters. “At KIOC, they didn’t charge me fees, instead they pay me for coaching youngsters at the Academy. My coach Mamatha (Maben) ma’am, Rachel ma’am, Veda akka and Samarth (Hegde) sir are also helping me a lot. I am thankful to all of them, and I hope I can play at the highest level soon and give my family a better life,” she summed up.
With the Indian women’s team scheduled to play a series, including five One-Dayers and a lone T20 in New Zealand in February next year, Chandu will be hoping to reap rewards for her consistency on the domestic circuit and earn her maiden national team call-up.