From Bijapur to the big stage, Rajeshwari Gayakwad smiles through setbacks

What is this? Why are you making girls play cricket?

Rajeshwari Gayakwad's parents had to constantly battle this sentiment, which was once too common and undoubtedly still is in some parts of the country. They copped flak from everyone around their daughters, Rajeshwari and Rameshwari, owing to the prevailing school of thought being that playing a sport, particularly cricket, was unbecoming of them.

Hailing from a small town in Karnataka called Bijapur, the Gayakwad sisters were always going to have an arduous journey. Money was scarce, and exposure was arguably even harder to come by.

But Rajeshwari's parents, especially her late father, encouraged their children's sporting interests. She and her four siblings, two brothers and two sisters, were often seen playing volleyball, kho-kho, badminton, hockey, and just about any other sport.

Fast forward almost two decades, and Rajeshwari has played 126 international matches for India. She has 169 wickets to her name and will go down as one of the country's greatest-ever bowlers, irrespective of how her career pans out from hereon.

Going against the grain, Rajeshwari's support system played a crucial hand in her ultimate success. In an exclusive conversation with Sportskeeda, the experienced left-arm spinner recollects how it all began.

“In general, there were five of us, and all of us were in different sports," Rajeshwari remembers. "At home, there was a lot of support in whatever we were interested in. The atmosphere at home was one of freedom; there was never any insistence that we needed to or shouldn’t do certain things. If we wanted to play cricket, the message was, ‘Play.’ There was complete backing; it was just that we had to do it with passion and dedication."

When she was 16 years old, Rajeshwari started playing organized cricket for the first time after open trials were conducted at a club in Bijapur. Two months later, she found herself playing for Karnataka and never looked back from there.

That said, though, the cricketing landscape was very different back then. It was mostly barren, without much financial incentive to go with various other drawbacks, and it required a serious amount of courage and commitment to even venture down that path.

“It never occurred to me to have any doubts regarding what I wanted to do, which was play cricket. At the same time, it did feel like cricket was a rich person’s game. Whenever we practiced, people would ask us, ‘What is this, why are you making girls play cricket?’ And if we wanted to do something like buy a bat, we didn’t have the money and we’d have to think about ways to get the necessary equipment," Rajeshwari says.

"But it didn’t even come to my mind that I should give up. It never happened. I had the self-belief that I could do it. There was so much interest in the game that I never wanted to leave it. So whatever challenges we had in life, we confronted them with positivity and never thought that we wouldn’t be able to overcome it,” she adds.

Rajeshwari had an excellent companion beside her throughout that phase of her life in the form of her sister Rameshwari, who went on to feature for Karnataka as well. She jokes that the duo were as thick as thieves, and that they sometimes needed to be reminded that they were separate individuals on the field.

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Rajeshwari Gayakwad is one short of 100 ODI wickets

Rajeshwari Gayakwad is one of India's greatest ODI bowlers

Rajeshwari made her international debut back in 2014, and her career has mostly been smooth sailing. Recently, though, the 32-year-old has had to endure a few setbacks on the selection front.

Despite her excellent ODI performances, Rajeshwari has been dropped from the 50-over side. And even though she is still active on the Test front, she has been overlooked for the zonal team in both of the longer formats.

If Rajeshwari were to play another ODI and take a wicket, she would become the fastest Indian and second-fastest ever to reach the milestone of 100 scalps in the format. That's how consistent she has been. In fact, the left-arm spinner has the fourth-best average among all active bowlers with 50 or more ODI wickets.

It can't be easy to face a spell on the sidelines when a historic achievement is tantalizingly close, especially when the player in question is the proud owner of the team's best bowling figures in a World Cup.

“Yeah, I have those goals," Rajeshwari admits. "Honestly, I personally don’t know why I have been dropped from the one-day team. I’m about to reach 100 wickets, and even if I get one chance to play, it’ll definitely happen. I badly want to get back into the Indian team immediately and reach that milestone.”

The most logical explanation is that Rajeshwari hasn't been picked because of her age, with younger spinners coming through the ranks. Whether the new generation is ready or not is a hugely debatable topic, but that seems to be the primary motive behind those decisions, with the likes of Ekta Bisht and Shikha Pandey falling out of favor as well.

However, even that theory hits a few roadblocks, as Rajeshwari points out. And more importantly, unlike the others, she is still a regular at the Test level but finds herself excluded from the zonal squad. It's a bizarre situation that few people know what to make of.

“I don’t think it is an issue regarding age. If you look at age, there are players older than me who are playing in the Indian team even today. But those players are featuring in the zonals even now, so I don’t understand why I’m not there. But I don’t think it’s a matter related to age. From the Indian red-ball team, just about everyone is playing the zonals except me. I’m playing Tests for India, and I’ve done well for India in ODIs. Despite that, I’m not part of the zonals team in both formats. So I’m unable to wrap my head around it, I really don’t know why I haven’t been picked,” Rajeshwari forlornly concedes.

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"I will most definitely come back" - Rajeshwari Gayakwad's intentions are clear

Rajeshwari Gayakwad still has a good few years left at the top level

Left-arm spinners are rapidly growing in number at the top level of women's cricket in the country, with tournaments like the Women's Premier League (WPL) helping unearth a few quality prospects.

Radha Yadav had an excellent season for the Delhi Capitals (DC) in WPL 2024, while Saika Ishaque made her debut for the Women in Blue after a prolific campaign with the Mumbai Indians (MI) in 2023. Others like Mannat Kashyap are slowly working their way up the ladder as well.

Rajeshwari, though, isn't too concerned about the newfound competition for spots and believes that there's enough scope for left-arm spinners to play in tandem. Her stint with the UP Warriorz (UPW) backs up that theory as she played alongside Gouher Sultana and Sophie Ecclestone.

"I never look at competition," Rajeshwari tells Sportskeeda. "I don’t have any external competition with anyone else; it’s only within myself. Left-arm spinners will of course be there, and keep coming. But everyone’s style is different, and everyone’s bowling has a unique aspect to it."

"It’s not that because we bowl from the same hand, we are all pitted against each other. I just look at what I can do to get better as a left-arm spinner. The youngsters are talented, and I understand that they deserve chances. I want them to play as many matches as possible and win as many matches for India as they can,” she adds.

Where does Rajeshwari go from here? There hasn't been much clarity from the selectors regarding her future and her place in the side, and the path ahead is clouded in a dense fog.

“Yeah, that is there. It’s a big deal for a player if they aren’t selected. Obviously, you’ll feel bad. Not getting selected is painful, not getting selected even when you’ve done well is worse, and not knowing why you haven’t been selected is even worse. I’ve seen a lot of this in my 10-year career. I will always fall back on my hard work, and with a ton of effort, I will most definitely come back,” Rajeshwari vehemently proclaims.

“We’ll see, I’m trying not to think about selections much. My job is to play cricket, and I want to focus on that. We’ll see what happens - whatever is meant to happen, will happen,” she concludes.

As a person who's pushed through tough times and seen many worse things than a selection snub, Rajeshwari is bound to bounce back.