CRICKET | Thought my chance with India had gone, says Bharti after Oz tour recall

For much of the past seven years, Bharti Fulmali had abandoned hopes of a recall into the Indian women’s cricket team. Having played two T20Is against England at home in 2019, the middle-order batter from Amravati thought her chance at the highest level had come and gone. It didn’t help that Bharti was consumed with guilt for her role in India’s defeat in her last appearance.

When she came in at No. 6 in Guwahati in March 2019, India needed 25 runs from 29 deliveries for a seemingly routine victory. Bharti, then aged 24, meandered to five off 13 balls, and was dismissed with two balls remaining in a one-run loss.

However, Bharti has been offered another crack. By virtue of her cameos for Gujarat Giants in the Women’s Premier League, where she has taken on the role of a six-hitter, the 31-year-old has been drafted into India’s T20I squad for the tour of Australia in February.

“Yeah, I thought my chance to play for India had gone. I didn’t think I would be making my comeback. The age factor was also there. I am 31, so it is more difficult to make a comeback. But I am very grateful to get the opportunity,” Bharti told The Hindu on Sunday.

After her brief, indifferent stint with India, the onset of the Covid pandemic in 2020 prompted Bharti to consider quitting cricket altogether.

“I did think about it,” she said. “I was blamed when I played for India for the team’s loss. I felt for a whole year that I was responsible. During the first year of Covid, there was no domestic cricket.

“I started looking for jobs because I had no income source, and the focus drifted from cricket. But then, I thought that I should just play well for my State even if I don’t make it again to the highest level, and that was a new beginning.”