Kanika Ahuja

Some Lesser Known Facts About Kanika Ahuja

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

• Before she became a professional cricketer she was a national-level skater; initially, she was not that interested in cricket. In an interview, she confessed that she was a bit confused when she was forced to choose between cricket and skating.

• Kanika started her cricket training at the Cricket Hub academy in Patiala, Punjab; her grandfather, Satpal, used to accompany her for her practice sessions at the Dhruve Pandove Stadium in Patiala, Punjab.

• She became a regular part of her school team and got selected for the Patiala district women’s cricket team. Later, she represented different age groups of the Punjab women’s cricket team and captained the under-16 and under-19 teams.

• At the age of fifteen, she was forced to take a break from cricket following an injury; she was diagnosed with Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear and Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL) tear.

• In an interview, she revealed that she lied to her parents following her injury, as they forced her to give up cricket and wanted her to focus on her studies; there were no hospitals nearby her hometown to treat the injury, so she moved to Chandigarh, India. But she told her family that she was shifting there for academic purposes.

• In an interview, she revealed that she never attended any practice sessions and used to play matches till she was selected for the state team. ^[4]Women’s CricZone – YouTube

• She was named to the Punjab women’s cricket team for the 2020-2021 BCCI Women’s Senior One-Day Trophy.

• On 19 March 2021, Kanika registered a five-wicket haul for the Punjab women’s team during their match against Mumbai Women in the Women’s Senior One-Day Trophy.

• On 6 November 2021, during the Women’s Senior One Day Trophy, she scored 90 runs from 88 balls against Rajasthan Women.

• On 15 November 2021, she achieved a five-wicket haul against the Maharashtra Women during the 2021-2022 Women’s Senior One Day Trophy; she was tied with Rashi Kanojiya as the leading wicket-takers of the tournament with 15 wickets each.

• Kanika was named to the Patiala district team for the Women Senior Inter District One Day Tournament 2021/2022. They defeated the Jalandhar district team in the final of the tournament; Kanika mankaded Jalandhar’s Krishma Rana in the final.

  

• She was part of the India Women’s D team and participated in the 2021-2022 Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy; she achieved a four-wicket haul against India Women’s C team on 4 December 2021.

• Kanika Ahuja was part of the North Zone Women’s team which participated in the 2022-2023 Women’s Senior Inter Zonal T20.

  

• She was part of the India Women’s D team that won the 2022-2023 Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy; she played in two matches and took one wicket against India Women’s B team.

  

• On 21 January 2023, she scored 29 runs (not out) from 36 balls and took two wickets against Mumbai Women in the Women’s Senior One Day Trophy.

• On 29 January 2023, she was named Performer of the Match in the match against the Meghalaya Women’s Cricket Team.

• In 2023, she was purchased by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for Rs. 35,00,000 for the inaugural Women’s Premier League; her base price was Rs. 10,000,00. RCB was her favourite team in the Indian Premier League. ^[5]Women’s CricZone – YouTube

• On 5 March 2023, she made her debut in their opening match against Delhi Capitals Women; she was dismissed for a duck.

• On 6 March 2023, she scored 22 runs from 13 balls against the Mumbai Indians Women; she was dismissed by Pooja Vastrakar. Kanika was named Safari Powerful Striker of the Match for her performance. During her post-match press conference, Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Smriti Mandhana praised Kanika’s performance.

• Her jersey number in the Women’s Premier League was 17.

• On 8 March 2023, she was dismissed against Gujarat Giants Women after Sushma Verma stumped her on a delivery of Ashleigh Gardner.

• In an interview, Kanika revealed her admiration for the Indian Women’s Cricket team captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, and pointed out that Harmanpreet helped and supported her career in many ways. ^[6]Women’s CricZone – YouTube

• In an interview, she revealed that she was influenced by the inclusion of Shafali Verma in the Indian women’s team.