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India Women’s Under-19 captain Niki Prasad opens up on her cricket journey, learning the ropes of captaincy, competing against Samit – the son of legendary India batter Rahul Dravid – and more.
India U19 women’s cricket team captain Niki Prasad. (Picture Credit: Instagram/@nikiprasad19)
India women Under-19 captain Niki Prasad is a woman of her word. Prior of the start of Under-19 Asia Cup in Malaysia, Prasad told News 18 CricketNext in an exclusive conversation that her goal is to win the Under-19 Asia Cup and Under-19 World Cup.
Eleven days later, she fulfilled one-half of her promise, winning the Asia Cup after India defeated Bangladesh by 41 runs in Kuala Lumpur to become the inaugural champions.
While she did not have a great tournament with the bat, the fact that India did not lose any of their five games is a testament to her leadership skills.
And the Under-19 Asia Cup isn’t the first tournament where the 19-year-old has proven her captaincy credentials. Prior to the continental tournament, she led an India B side to a tri-series title win that also included India A and South Africa U-19s in Pune. She was the captain when Karnataka defended 58 runs in a Women’s senior T20 match with four bowlers.
In her conversation with CricketNext, Prasad opened up on her cricket journey, learning the ropes of captaincy, playing alongside Samit – the son of legendary India batter Rahul Dravid – and more.
Excerpts
How is the feeling to represent India at Under-19 level?
It has always been a dream for me. I am really happy, because I have been working hard to get to the start of my cricketing journey and this is just one step (playing U19 Asia Cup). From here, there is still a long way to go. I want to win matches for India and I want to play higher level and win World Cup for the senior team as well.
Tell us about your cricket journey.
I was six when I started playing cricket. My brother used to play cricket and I started following him to the ground. That is where I developed an interest in the sport. That is also when my mom made me join a professional academy where my journey began. I started playing in the club, gave under-16 selection trials for Karnataka and from there on, played for the state.
We keep hearing lot of stories where girls are restricted from playing sports. Did you face any such situation in your family?
Nothing like that happened with me. My parents were always supportive from the time I started playing cricket. That was a very important point for me.
Since you are an allrounder, how do you balance between batting, bowling, and fielding in your training sessions?
I am a batting allrounder. The first priority obviously is batting. I plan my sessions – batting in nets at least twice a week, doing a lot of power hitting. Then once or twice a week, I do fielding session with nets. When I do nets, I also work on my bowling.
There are plenty of players coming out of Karnataka – the state has a rich cricket history. Does that give you extra motivation to do better?
Initially, I did not know much about women’s cricket. When I started playing, Rahul Dravid was the big thing in Karnataka and in India. I have seen him and once I started playing women’s cricket, I saw Mithali Raj, and from my state, Veda Krishnamurti, Karuna Jain, Vanitha VR. Looking at all such senior players, you get quite motivated and your interest keeps rising. I have always looked up to them.
During my junior cricket days, we used to have these club matches, and I used to play with the boys as well. We used to compete against Samit Dravid’s academy and Rahul Dravid would come and watch our games. I used to get very excited because of him and play even better on those days.
Being the captain of Karnataka women’s team, what has been your leadership philosophy? How do you work with senior players?
Firstly, I am thankful to KSCA for giving me this opportunity. They saw the quality in me and they gave me the captaincy. And, whenever I am the leader, I always make sure that my team is really united and they communicate really well. I have always made sure that my team looks like one unit and I have done everything in my capacity to make sure that happens.
Can you share specific memories or any moment that you would like to share from your captaincy journey, some tactical moves that helped you to victory?
Two years ago (in 2022), we played a quarterfinal against Bengal. We batted first but scored just 58 runs in a T20 game. The Bengal team had some big names at that time. But our team had no fear that day. When I walked into the field, I made sure that our team looks like a unit and is should be clear we have come here to dominate and that is what we did. We defended 58 runs that day and we got Bengal team all-out for 52 runs.
I also give credit to my coach Karuna Jain for helping me from outside the field. We had four main bowlers and we finished the game in the 16th over. So I was one of the bowlers, Mithila was there besides two other bowlers who had already finished their respective quotas. So, Mithila’s one over was left and we needed two wickets to win and they needed around six runs. Their main batter, Titas, was still batting. We had to get those two wickets because after that we had only part-timers. Hence, we took that risk of finishing all our main bowlers quota so that we get the wickets. We defended 58 runs and went on to reach the final.
You are leading the India Under-19 team. What are your plans as captain?
I am very excited to be playing the Asia Cup for the first time. And when I get the opportunity of leading the team, the first thing which comes to my mind is winning the Under-19 Asia Cup and then winning the Under-19 World Cup. That is my main goal.
There will be players from other states, and it won’t be like any other state team. I will make sure that they know their roles and they communicate well. In addition, they have been playing together for the past six months. It has come to a point where everyone knows what each other’s strengths are. Obviously, the credit goes to the BCCI – they made sure we get this opportunity of playing together.
So how are you preparing for these tournaments?
I am very clear about my goals, about my strength. Whenever I walk into the field or just before leaving for the match, I make sure to tell myself that I am the best and I am going to give 100 % for my team today and make my team win. That is my mental preparation that I do for myself and for my team. Talking about skills, I go inside on the field, do all my routines, and make sure that when I walk into bat or when I am on the field, I save a lot of runs and when I bat, I finish the game. That has been my mindset for a very long time.
You already have a sponsorship deal with PUMA. How do you feel being recognised by brands at a young age?
I am very happy about it. I am grateful to Nisarg Naik (her manager) for making this possible and getting me associated with Puma.
Since you mentioned Nisarg, he predicted quite a bit early that you would be the captain of Under-19 Indian team. Why did he think so?
He has been seeing me for the last two years. I was leading India B last time around but could not make it through to the World Cup team, which made me realise that I need to be working harder. Nisarg was following my journey, keeping track of my scores and what I have been doing. That’s how he became confident about me leading the Under-19 team.
