Asha Shobana

Some Lesser Known Facts About Asha Shobana

• Asha Shobana is an Indian cricketer. She is an all-rounder and played for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League.

• From an early age, she used to play gully cricket with her brother and her cousins and was an ardent cricket fan.

• In an interview, she revealed that Sachin Tendulkar‘s innings against Australia in the 1998 Coca-Cola Cup influenced her a lot.

• Initially, she was not aware of the women’s cricket team. She was a school student when she first saw a women’s cricket match on the Doordarshan channel; coincidentally her idol Neetu David was in the starting eleven for India Women.

• Later, she came across a newspaper advertisement for the women’s district teams’ trials. She was confused about how her parents’ reaction and requested help from her Physical Training teacher to reach the training ground.

• She was 12-and-a-half years old at that time and did well in the trials; she was selected for the Thiruvananthapuram district team and soon became a key player for the team.

• While trying out for the Thiruvananthapuram district team, Asha was able to impress the former Kerala women’s cricket team captain, Shabina Jacob, who later became her mentor. Shabina Jacob wanted her in the state team and labelled her as the “most promising youngster.”

• In 2003, she was part of the Kerala women’s team that travelled to Chennai, Tamil Nadu for the Senior Games, however, she was not included in the playing eleven.

  

• In 2005, she made her debut for the Kerala women’s team and soon became a regular starter for the team; she played for them for ten years. ^[5]Manorama Online

• She was 16 years old when she made her debut for the South Zone women’s cricket team.

  

• In 2008, she was selected for the India Women’s U-19 camp.

• In 2010, she played in the Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy at the age of 19.

  

• She scored two fifties and took 10 wickets from five matches for the Kerala women’s team between 2011 and 2012.

• In 2011, she became the leading wicket-taker with 12 wickets from four matches in the inter-zone women’s cricket tournament held at Ahmedabad.

• In an interview, former India women’s captain Mithali Raj labelled her as a “gutsy cricketer.” ^[6]The Times of India

  

• In January 2012, she was included in the 20-player probables list for the India Women’s tour of the West Indies.

• Asha was a second-year undergraduate student when she got a job at the Indian railways. She worked for the South Central Railway in Hyderabad, Telangana.

  

• On 10 March 2012, she was part of the Indian Board President’s Women XI team that lost to the Australian women’s national team at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad. She bowled three overs and took the wicket of Meg Lanning.

• She was part of the Smriti Mandhana-led India A team that won the 2017-2018 Senior Women’s Challenger Trophy; she took three wickets from ten overs in the final against India Green.

• In 2018, she was selected for India A squad for the Australian women’s tour of India. She scored 24 runs in two matches and took the catch of Alyssa Healy.

• In 2018, she was named the Player of the Tournament for her performances with the Chilaw Marians Cricket Club Women’s team in the Sri Lanka Cricket Women’s Division One Tournament.

  

• In 2019, she achieved a four-wicket haul against Himachal Pradesh women’s team in the 2019-2020 Women’s Senior T20 Trophy.

• In 2020, she made a four-wicket haul against the Goa women’s cricket team.

• In October 2020, she announced that she was launching her cricket brand ‘AV Sports.’

• Asha was part of the Railways team that won the Women’s Senior One-Day Trophy in the 2020-2021 season and the 2021–22 Women’s Senior T20 Trophy.

  

• In 2022, she played for the Puducherry women’s cricket team.

• In 2023, she was purchased by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL).

  

• On 5 March 2023, she became the first Kerala player to feature in the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL). ^[7]Manorama Online She bowled two overs at an economy of 14.50.

• She often shares pictures of her pet dog, Dexter, (Golden Retriever) on social media.

  

• In an interview, she revealed that her dream was to watch Arsenal F.C. playing at their home ground, Emirates stadium in London, England. ^[8]Female Cricket

• Asha and Sanju Samson, who hails from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, used to train at the Medical College Ground in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

• She often posts pictures of her drawing on social media.

  

• Shane Warne’s coach Terry Jenner coached a 15-year-old Asha at the MAC spin foundation in Chennai, Tamil Nadu; after he saw her bowling he then asked the others to bowl like her. ^[9]Female Cricket

• She owns a Volkswagen Polo.

  

• In an interview, she revealed that she came from humble beginnings and lacked the financial security to meet the travel expenses and money for different training equipment as a child. She added that her parents, who worked for meagre amounts, supported her dream of becoming a cricketer and tried their best to provide the required money; she also pointed out that many people including her mentor, Shabina Jacob, helped her a lot with her journey.

• In an interview, she revealed that during the trials for the women’s district team, she used to do fast bowling instead of spin bowling. She pointed out that the reason behind this was she was not sure whether or not they would select her if they knew that she was a spin bowler. ^[10]Manorama Online