TNPL: Anusha shows her ‘strength’, carves niche in a man’s world

CHENNAI: Men have predominantly been the points of focus in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), but select women have made their presence felt in the T20 tournament.

The new joinee in the ‘TNPL women’s club’ is Anusha Prabhakaran, the first female support staff to be involved in the franchise-based league. Anusha, a former Tamil Nadu and Railways player, has been roped in by Tiruppur Tamizhans to serve as their strength and conditioning (S&C) coach for the ongoing ninth season.

Having seven years of training experience in the bank, Anusha is enjoying the “challenge” of working in a ‘man’s world’ for the first time in her career. She had stints with multiple TN women’s teams, including the senior side, and is currently a member of the Kerala women’s set-up.

“I did not expect this opportunity to come my way. This is my first experience with a men’s team, that too a senior side. I felt some nervousness in the first few days since I have largely been associated with women’s teams. I adapted to the environment after that and it has been good since,” Anusha told TOI from Coimbatore on Saturday.

“At the start, I just observed what the players were doing – routines, workload etc. By analysing those, I made tweaks to our warm-up, recovery, strength and conditioning sessions.”

Talking about the differences in handling men’s and women’s teams, Anusha said: “There are a lot of things. The dressing-room atmosphere, energy levels and mindset are different; basically, their (men) hormone levels are different compared to women. The intensity is high in men’s cricket, so I have to prepare myself accordingly.”

Anusha remarked that the exposure gained in a top tournament like the TNPL will do a world of good to women involved in men’s cricket. There has been women’s representation in the league in umpiring, refereeing, commentary and scoring over the years.

“It is a great learning experience for women at such a big platform. This is a big opportunity for us to help reach higher levels. My goal is to work with the India team or a Women’s Premier League (WPL) side one day. When I am offered such an opportunity (in the TNPL), it is a big boost to get to the next level. I am grateful to the owners of the Tamizhans franchise,” said Anusha, who was also part of two CoE U-19 camps.