What’s the secret of success for Sree Charani: India’s trump card at Women’s WC

Sree Charani‘s first three overs against Bangladesh on Thursday didn’t yield a wicket. Yastika Bhatia dropped a sitter, and Nandini Sharma dropped two off her bowling.

Most bowlers would have let their heads drop, believing fate was conspiring against them. But Charani’s resilience eventually shone through in India’s must-win encounter.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur called her to bowl the 20th over, in which the left-arm spinner picked up two wickets and conceded only three runs. In doing so, she became the highest wicket-taker in the ongoing T20 World Cup with 12 scalps, which is already the highest tally for an Indian in one edition of the competition.

“She never gets discouraged,” Srinivas Reddy, the Andhra head coach, told The Indian Express. “She wants to do better in pressure situations… She likes to face challenges.”

In her short international career so far, there haven’t been many instances when batters have managed to get the better of Charani. And the odd game when she has gone for a few runs, hasn’t hit her confidence as she has managed to bounce back strongly.

“She never gets discouraged,” Srinivas Reddy, the Andhra head coach, told The Indian Express. “She wants to do better in pressure situations… She likes to face challenges.” (Special Arrangement)

“As coaches, we observe that some bowlers get disappointed when batters go after them. We always tell them the importance of bouncing back. That’s what I like about Charani,” Reddy said.

He believes that the mental toughness Charani shows stems from the experience she has gained over the last year and a half, and the hard work she put in before making it to the national team.

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When others were packing their bags on match days during her days of playing under Reddy, Charani would plead with her coaches to let her practise spot bowling. Her relentlessness — continuing to strive for perfection and accuracy in her bowling even when tired — is what has helped Charani excel, the coach felt.

Even on match days, Charani would go back to the nets. “She is very resilient. She used to say, ‘I will bowl one more ball, please help me,” Reddy recalled with a laugh. “Usually, when bowlers are tired, they end up bowling short of length or too full. Not so Charani, as she would bowl three or four overs in a row.”

Endless stamina

Her physical education instructor at school, Naresh, called her god’s gift. “She had as much endurance as boys of her age.”

“I remember once we had a 3km running competition between boys and girls in school, and she finished the race alongside the boys. We aimed to complete the event as quickly as we could,” Naresh laughed.

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Even in the off-season, as part of her preparation for the T20 World Cup event, Charani continued to work on her fitness.

“Going to the gym, running on the ground, and then practising again. She did the same things relentlessly,” said Charani’s uncle Kishore Reddy.

“She is very self-aware. If there is a problem in her game, she just keeps practising and won’t return home until she perfects it, and she won’t let me go either.”

Sree Charani of India is congratulated by team mate Harmanpreet Kaur after taking the wicket of Anneke Bosch of South Africa (not pictured) during the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup India 2025 Final match between India and South Africa at Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy on November 02, 2025 in Navi Mumbai (Express Photo by Narendra Vaskar)

Kishore said of her passion for practice: ”When she was young, we used to go at around 11 in the morning and keep practising till 3-4 in the afternoon.”

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Apart from fitness, stamina and relentlessness, Charani has also been upgrading her pure skills with the ball. That despite having a successful ODI World Cup last year, in which she picked up 14 wickets.

“She worked on arm balls…” revealed Kishore.

It is not just the bowling that Charani has kept evolving in. Reddy has noted a change in her personality: “Her body language has changed a lot. Whether bowling or batting, we tell her to concentrate on what she has to do, not on the name she is bowling to or batting against. Charani has held her own in that regard, which is quite impressive.”

The younger Charani used to be introverted in the dressing rooms. “She did not talk much in the beginning,” Reddy recalled. “Now, she has become chirpy in the dressing room and is gelling with the team members. It also has to do with the role of India head coach Amol Muzumdar, who has motivated her, and motivation is everything.”

“Coming from a rural background and achieving the success she has is quite remarkable,” he said.