By Admin 
Having arrived in the city after a victorious women’s ODI World Cup campaign, Arundhati Reddy sat down for a slew of interviews, answering any and every question as patiently as she could — repetitive or otherwise.
During the course of her conversation with The Hindu, however, she put a pause on sharing tales of the Women in Blue’s path to glory and recalled Hyderabad’s rich history, while also lamenting the current state of affairs.
“If you look at the number of cricketers from here who have played for India… Mithali [Raj] di, Purnima [Rau] di, Rajani Venugopal and many more. It has a rich history in women’s cricket,” she said, adding, “There’s been a drought now.”
Arundhati Reddy in a conversation with The Hindu after winning the women’s ODI World Cup with India.
| Photo Credit:
G. RAMAKRISHNA
The 28-year-old is eager to ensure that the City of Nizams bounces back from this slump and reclaims its place among the elite in women’s cricket.
“I pride myself on coming from Hyderabad. I love the city and what it’s done for me. My only dream again is to make Hyderabad great again. If I do that, I’ll be a really happy person,” she said.
“When I came into the system, only Railways was a better team than Hyderabad. My only hope and dream is to get Hyderabad back there again.”
Strengthening grassroots
Arundhati Reddy proudly shows her medal after India clinched the women’s ODI World Cup.
| Photo Credit:
G. RAMAKRISHNA
Arundhati believes that strengthening the bottom of the pyramid is the first step in the process, where, sometimes, even basic awareness is lacking.
“We need to go to the grassroots, pick players from there, and promote them. Because if even one player starts playing from a district, it will inspire a lot more to come from there. I realised after playing for Kerala that a lot of people in the grassroots don’t know that this life exists, they don’t know this world exists,” she remarked.