WPL Auction: Tribal girl Minnu Mani is duly rewarded for her efforts
Minnu Mani, 23, was selected by Delhi Capitals for Rs 30 lakhs at the auctions of the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) Auction in Mumbai, she took a significant step towards attaining her ambition.
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KOCHI: More than ten years ago, a tribal girl from the Mananthavady foothills in Kerala’s Wayanad district made the unconventional decision to follow her dream of making a profession playing cricket.
When Minnu Mani, 23, was selected by Delhi Capitals for Rs 30 lakhs at the auctions of the inaugural Women’s Premier League in Mumbai, she took a significant step towards attaining her ambition. “In my entire life, I had never seen 30 lakh rupees. I have no words to express how I feel right now “Minnu spoke to Press from Hyderabad, where she is competing in the inter-zone competition on behalf of the South Zone.
However, Minnu’s journey has not been easy. Her father Mani CK works as a daily wage labourer in Choyimoola, Wayanad, while her mother Vasantha is a stay-at-home mother. Minnu’s family is from the Kurichiya tribe. When she was ten years old, she began playing the game at the nearby paddy fields with boys and cousins. When she enrolled in grade 8 at the Government High School, Idapaddi, she began to take cricket seriously. Elsamma Baby, a physical education teacher, was her mentor. They only agreed to let me participate in the trials after much persuasion. However, when I was chosen for those trials and afterwards chosen for a junior girls’ state camp at the.
KCA Academy, Thodupuzha, had a change of heart and started to firmly encourage me “Minnu recalls how she was introduced to the game. When she was 15, she advanced to the Kerala U-16 team, and a year later, she was a member of the senior team for the state. For Minnu to pursue her ambition of playing cricket, she had to overcome a number of challenges. The KCA Stadium in Krishnagiri was the closest practising site to Minnu’s house.
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“When I’m at home, my day starts at four. I help my mother prepare meals for me. My home is around an hour and a half away from the Krishnagiri stadium. I switch between four buses to arrive at my practise location at nine because there is no direct bus service from my location to Krishnagiri. I am fatigued by the time I return home at around 7 o’clock in the evening,” Minnu explains.
But Minnu’s struggles weren’t over there. “My dad financed the early years of the game with loans from his friends.
When I began to make money from playing, I assisted him in paying back the loans and constructed a modest home for my family. At that time, my house was severely damaged by the floods. I was able to reconstruct it today because of cricket,” remarked Minnu.
Minnu has played for India ‘A’ and India Blue in the Challenger Trophy and has been a crucial member of the Kerala women’s squad. Minnu, a left-handed batter and right-arm off-spinner, scored the most runs (246 from eight games) and took the most wickets (12) in the recently concluded Women’s All-India One-day tournament.
Minnu will be lining up with players like Jemimah Rodrigues, Meg Lanning, and Shafali Verma for the Delhi Capitals. And Minnu believes that by joining the Capitals, her daily struggles would fade and she will be able to fulfil her dream of representing her nation via hockey. “WPL will be very successful. Positive results in the WPL will be noticed and may help the Indian squad get more opportunities, she said.
While the majority of male cricketers in India, including those who play domestic cricket, purchase flashy cars as soon as they get an IPL contract, Minnu’s goals are modest. “I’m going to get a scooter initially.
It would enable me to avoid the inconvenience of taking four buses to practise, and it will free me a significant amount of time that I can utilise for practise, said Minnu.
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