In the small rural town of Ghuwara in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district, a 12-year-old girl sat on the ground outside her house and watched boys play cricket for hours. Now a decade later, the 22-year-old right-arm medium pacer lifted the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup trophy in Navi Mumbai as India defeated South Africa to win the title for the first time.
Like many of her peers in India’s World Cup-winning team, Kranti’s story began in a small town, going through opposition, challenges, lack of resources and financial hardships to reach a historic moment at the DY Patil Stadium on the night of November 2. In India’s second match of the World Cup against Pakistan, Kranti took three vital wickets, taking just 20 wickets and helping the player win 10 matches to 59 awards.
Her elder sister Roshni Goud recalls that Kranti barely played with the neighborhood girls and was fascinated by cricket from childhood. She finished her studies after the 8th grade.
“When we girls played outside, she would just sit and watch the boys playing cricket on the ground. Since our brothers also played, she would sometimes play with them,” says Roshni, recalling Kranti’s “first break” when the local boys’ team was missing a player.
“When she got the chance to play, she scored 25 runs and took two wickets and became the player of the match in her very first match,” adds Roshni. The Kranti played local tournaments in boys’ teams with a rubber or tennis ball until 2017.
The youngest of Munna Singh Goud and Neelam Goud’s six children, Kranti, fondly called Rohini at home, hails from a tribal family in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh. In 2012, Munna Singh, who worked as a police constable, was dismissed from service, forcing Kranti’s eldest brother to quit his studies and join a job to support the family.
As her interest and talent grew, Munna Singh took her to neighboring Tikamgarh district in 2017 to meet Rajeev Bilthar, who had brought a girls’ team from his sports academy in Chhatarpur town.
“Since there was a match going on at that time, I couldn’t talk to them properly and asked them to come to Chhatarpur the next day,” recalls Bilthare. The next day, the father-daughter duo arrived at his Sai Sports Academy.
“Her father told me she lost her job and financial constraints. But since the girl promised, I enrolled her in the academy free of charge. She also stayed at my home for a week initially,” she says, adding that the city is 85 kilometers from her hometown, making commuting a problem.
“She didn’t have cricket boots or any other gear, so I got her boots. Even now, I keep gifting her with gear for her gear,” he says.
For the next three years, Bilthare recalls, Kranti juggled between Ghuwara, Chhatarpur and a nearby village, where she lived in another girl’s house at the academy while playing under-15s and under-19s for Madhya Pradesh.
Kranti’s father says, “Since I could find another job and my sons started working, I used to go to Chhatarpur with her. Her coach used to take all the girls together for any tournaments, but still we were nervous and scared whenever she traveled far.”
“Roshni and I traveled separately to watch her play. It’s just the beginning of her career, but we feel all our sacrifices have paid off,” says Munna Singh, adding that the same people who used to mock him and his family are now coming with sweets and congratulations.
By 2020, recalls Bilthare, Kranti was more inclined to bat and even scored at the divisional level.
“But when we saw her fitness and pace, we started focusing on her bowling and swing. The next two-three were a struggle for her but she remained consistent. I also started telling her that she will play for India one day and that should be her goal,” she says.
Kranti first caught the attention of the selectors when she took four wickets at an economy of 2.77 to win the player of the match in the final of the Women’s Senior One Day Trophy, 2024, against Bengal. Soon after, she was selected by the UP Warriors team for the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
Kranti’s debut for India came on 11 May 2025 in the tri-series final against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Two months later on his first England tour, the pacer made headlines after he rocked the England team with his 6/52. With her performance, she sealed her birth for the World Cup, where she collected nine goals in eight outings and was a promise for the future.
Back home, her family and town are busy celebrating her triumph with dhols and firecrackers. Relatives and neighbors come to congratulate her while Chief Minister Mohan Yadav announces a reward of ₹1 million for her.
At the academy, Bilthare hopes Kranti’s success will encourage more young girls from the region to take up the sport. He currently trains about 40 girls at his academy, which he started in 2013.
“In 2016, I started a girls’ team with five players from a government college. Over the next year, I visited many schools and colleges to look for talented girls. I also spoke to their families to allow them to take cricket as a career. I trained girls and boys on a rented ground,” says Bilthare, who is also the government sports officer in Chhatarpur, hoping for better facilities.
Kranti’s father says, “The first step has to be from families who need to encourage both girls and boys, especially in small places like ours. If the family stands by them, the young players can overcome any other obstacles.”
Published – 05 Nov 2025 21:22 IST
