‘Target was to score on my first game’: Sakshi Rana on her dream senior team debut

New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) Sabina Kumari started on a modest track in Jharkhand’s Chatra district, far from the assistance of an indoor velodrome. On Friday, the 18-year-old daughter of a daily-wage worker and a housewife bagged three medals in cycling on her debut in the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG).

Sabina won gold medals in the girls’ Keirin and Team Sprint events, respectively, as well as a bronze in the 200m Sprint.

“This is my first Khelo India Youth Games and I’m very happy with my performance and the three medals. Among them, the individual Keirin was my best,” the visibly elated National Centre of Excellence trainee told SAI Media.

Sabina’s story is one of quiet determination, focus and hard work. “I have always been focused and have worked hard. There are many girls in rural places who want to do something in life but don’t find the opportunity. I want to tell them to work hard. Chase what you want, whether it’s in sports or anything else,” said the 18-year-old, a Khelo India Athlete (KIA).

Sabina’s entry into sports was by accident. “I didn’t even know about sports then. My father filled out a form in 2017 under the Central Coalfields Ltd programme of the Jharkhand Government. He just wanted me to do well in life in terms of survival and education. That small act changed my life,” Sabina said.

She was 12 when she took to Cycling at the Jharkhand State Sports Promotion Society (JSPS) Academy in Ranchi. Sabina soon came under the wings of cycling coach Ram Kapoor Bhatt. Impressed by her instincts and agility, Bhatt, a multiple medalist in cycling at the 2011 National Games, encouraged Sabina to try out sprint.

“I was 13 in 2018 when I started training under Ram sir, and I never looked back,” Sabina said. By 2021, her steady improvement led to a breakthrough — a gold and bronze — at her first national championship in Jaipur. “That was when I started believing that I could go far.”

With her housewife mother managing the home and her father working daily-wage jobs to make ends meet, the thought of pursuing a career in sport seemed improbable. But with continuous support from the Khelo India Scheme, Sabina has found an avenue to express herself. “The Khelo India Scheme is the reason I am what I am today,” she said.

In 2024, she won her first international medal as part of the Indian team that claimed sprint gold at the Asian Championships in Delhi. Sabina is also part of the SAI National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) IG Stadium, training under French cycling legend Kevin Sireau and further honing her technical edge. “He is a very good guide. My aim now is to represent India at the Olympics.”

Now completing her 12th-standard studies via self-learning, Sabina balances academics with intense training. She remains grateful for her roots and first coach, Ram Bhatt. “There’s been so much development in cycling in Jharkhand. Around 25–30 kids are training under Ram Sir now. He wants all of us to go forward. I am so grateful to have found him at the right time,” she said.

–IANS

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Sydney, Jan 4 (IANS) Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar believes the green pitch at the fast-moving ongoing fifth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground would be questioned if the game was played in India, adding that the surface dishing out is not ideal for playing longer format games.

After 11 wickets fell on day one’s play, day two yielded 15 wickets. India, after bowling out Australia for 181, took a four-run first-innings lead and reached 141/6 at stumps, with the overall lead standing at 145.

“If 15 wickets fell (on one day) in India, all hell would have broken loose. We had Glenn McGrath saying he’d never seen so much grass. Did you hear any former India cricketer moan about the pitch?”

“Former (Australian and English cricketers are) all the time talking about Indian pitches and conditions. We are not moaners, we are not whingers. You will never find us complaining. But 15 wickets in a day in India, man that would be hell.”

“When we go out and play cricket we will toughen it out. And if we are beaten, we are beaten. Overseas it’s very difficult to beat home teams. I did say that when we saw the pitch yesterday, the cows could have gone and grazed on it.”

“This is not the ideal Test match pitch that you want because you want it to go into a fourth and fifth day. Unless there is rain I don’t see us being here on day four,” said Gavaskar on ABC Grandstand Radio after day two’s play ended.

Scott Boland shone yet again by picking 4-42 on day two, after clinching figures of 4-31 on day one. He also got Virat Kohli out twice in the match, which means Boland has taken out the talismanic batter four times in the series.

Australia wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey said he was pleased for Boland coming good at Sydney. “He’s challenging the batters, putting the ball in the right area on wickets like this. He’s just creating so much for us.”

“He’s a different bowler to maybe Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood where he’s a little bit shorter, a little bit skinnier where potentially more balls can hit the top of the stumps. He’s getting his opportunity now and it’s not surprise to the playing group how good he is. We love his energy,” Carey said.

–IANS

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