Tribal girl Minnu earns her maiden India call-up

Kochi: Tribal girl Minnu Mani has gone one step closer to realising her dream of playing for the country as she earned her maiden call-up to the Indian women’s cricket team late on Sunday night. The 24-year-old girl from Mananthavady in Wayanad district features in the Indian T20I squad that will tour Bangladesh. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led squad is scheduled to play three T20Is and three ODIs in their Bangladesh tour which starts in Mirpur on July 9.Earlier in the year, Minnu had become the first Kerala cricketer to be picked up at the auctions of the inaugural Women’s Premier League when she was bought by Delhi Capitals for Rs 30 lakhs.Minnu’s family belongs to the Kurichiya tribe in Choyimoola in Wayanad, and her dad Mani CK is a daily wage labourer while her mom Vasantha is a homemaker. She started playing cricket at the age of ten with boys in the paddy fields near her home but began to take the game more seriously when she joined Government High School, Idapaddi in standard 8. Minnu made it to the Kerala state women’s squad at the age of 16 and has not looked back since. She has been a linchpin of Kerala team in the last decade and was the top run-getter in the Women’s All-India One-day tournament last season with 246 runs from eight matches. She also claimed 12 wickets to underline her all-round potential.Minnu has also been part of India ‘A’ and India ‘B squad in the Challenger Trophy.However, she didn’t get enough chances in the inaugural WPL as she featured in only three matches for Delhi Capitals and managed to bat only once.However, Minnu will be hoping that she gets more chances to showcase her talent in the Indian Blue jerseyRenuka, Ghosh left outRight-arm pacer Renuka Singh and Richa Ghosh were left out, while young off-spinner Shreyanka Patil was ignored by the selectors from the Indian squad for Bangladesh tour. It is surprising to see the omission of wicket-keeper batter Ghosh and Patil, who scalped nine wickets in India's title triumph in the ACC Women's Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Hong Kong last month. The reason for Ghosh’s omission is not clear, neither anyone can gauge the reason behind Patil's exclusion .India’ s T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Devika Vaidya, Uma Chetry (wk), Amanjot Kaur, S. Meghana, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Monica Patel, Rashi Kanojiya, Anusha Bareddy, Minnu Mani.India’s ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhan, Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Devika Vaidya, Uma Chetry (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Priya Punia, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Monica Patel, Rashi Kanojiya, Anusha Bareddy, Sneh Rana.