Small height, big fight — Tanuja Kan(wer) and she did
Over the past two seasons, the Shimla-born cricketer has been skipper Beth Mooney’s go-to resource in strife, something Giants have found themselves in far too often. These situations have allowed her to come into her own as a thinking cricketer
ong before Tanuja Kanwer was throwing shade at the biggest names in international cricket at the Women’s Premier League, she was an ambitious sportsloving kid growing up in Himachal Pradesh.
Badminton and volleyball were Tanuja’s choice of sports in school.
“I even gave trials in volleyball but I didn’t have the height to continue in the sport. The coaches would always tell me that I didn’t have the height,” Tanuja, representing Gujarat Giants in the WPL, told The Hindu on the sidelines of the league’s second edition.
“I would play cricket with my siblings and in school. My father saw my interest in the game and enrolled me in an academy,” she added. There was no turning back.
LVertical limits
The now 26yearold had her father’s unconditional support as she meandered through the turns of the sport. Her journey also had a pit stop at the
Himachal Cricket Academy.
A height of five feet is not one you would associate with a pace bowler. Tanuja’s coaches early on did not either, which eventually paved the way for her to discover her talents as a tweaker.
“I started as a medium pacer. We used to play with a Cosco ball. At that time, all of us medium pacers began trying out spin too. My coach then, Pavan sir, told me to switch to spin because my height wasn’t as much to successfully bowl as a pacer. So I began bowling spin. Due to my height, I wouldn’t get as much pace, so when I switched to spin, I started getting more wickets and as a result, enjoyed the game also a lot more,” she remembered.
In 2011, Tanuja broke into the U19 state team. Consistent performances in the domestic circuit earned her India A callups against Australia and Bangladesh over the years. She was a crucial part of India’s triumph in the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Colombo, taking four wickets in the final.
In 2022, a year before the WPL would take shape, Tanuja had an encouraging season. She was the joint secondhighest wickettaker for Railways in the 2022 Senior Women’s T20 Trophy with eight scalps in the bag. She was also part of the victorious Central Zone side in the Senior Inter Zonal T20 Cup. She also had a fruitful OneDay campaign with Railways, finishing with 18 wickets and a stupendous 2.43 economy rate in 11 innings.
Standout talent
The coaches in the Giants set up saw value in investing in a player of such calibre and roped her in during the auction for Rs. 50 Lakh, an improvement on her RS.10 Lakh base price. Tanuja proved to be good value for money in an otherwise bleak season for the Giants. The franchise finished at the bottom but Tanuja, who took the firstever wicket in the WPL when she dismissed Yastika Bhatia, was just getting started. She ended the season with five wickets to her name but was quickly identified by the think tank as a talent to build foundations with. She was retained ahead of the auction for the 2024 season.
In the run up to WPL 2024, Tanuja took nine wickets in six outings in the Senior Women’s OneDay trophy, part of a titlewinning Railways outfit. This campaign also saw her score a nifty 57ball 44 in a twowicket win against Madhya Pradesh.
“We had weeklong camps here and there. When Railways duty ended, we had small GG camps for the domestic players. There was a mix of fitness and skill work in these sessions,” she explained.
“After last year’s stint in the WPL, I realised that it’s important to round myself out in bowling as well as batting and I worked on that. I worked on the power hitting aspect which was essential. This was alongside the variations I worked on with the ball,” she added.
While the franchise itself encountered the same fate this time around too, finishing dead last, Tanuja bettered her showing with the ball, finishing with ten wickets.
She was a firebrand on the field and was heavily appreciated for her aggression and quick thinking. Her wicket haul was also the second best by an Indian uncapped player (after Asha Sobhana who claimed 12).
Checklist for the season
Tanuja came into the season with a lot of unfinished business. Last year, during a game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (which RCB won by eight wickets), she was taken to the cleaners by a certain Sophie Devine.
She finished that game having conceded 50 runs in just three overs with no wickets to show for consolation.
So when Tanuja dismissed Devine with a stunning turner, knocking off the off stump’s bail after Devine came down the track to get bat on it, she was over the moon.
“I took a lot of beating from her last season and that stayed in my mind. Dismissing her was very satisfying,” she admitted.
“Last year when I went back home from the WPL, folks around my house, neighbours and friends would tell me that they felt really bad when I was hit for a four or six. I loved that, when they said they want only wickets when I bowl.”
She licked her wounds in training, finetuning what she’s good at and adding a few new tricks to her repertoire.
“There weren't too many technical changes. I added a slower one and a yorker to my arsenal. First, I would rely solely on my stock ball. But adding these variations helped me a lot this season,” Tanuja explained.
Over the past two seasons, the Shimlaborn cricketer has been skipper Beth Mooney’s goto resource in strife, a mood the Giants have found themselves in