Indian Women's U-19 team made history, winning the prestigious ICC trophy on 2nd consecutive occasion. The defending champions transformed themselves into reigning one's, in a tournament which was single handedly dominated by Women in Blue Juniors. Absolute domination by the team resulted in victories in all the games with sheer dominance and ruthlessness. The world cup victory was special for fans, and even more special for the players who contributed to win it. All the 15 future stars of India played a huge part in the team's success. And amongst these stars, stood tall a proud daughter of India, Sanika Chalke.

The vice captain of the world cup winning team impressed everyone with her batting and eclectic fielding. Right in the team's first match of the world cup, her video of a stunner in the slips went viral amongst the fans. Her enthusiasm in the field was witnessed greatly in the entire tournament, due to which one saw great catches and good presence of mind from her resulting in runouts. And similarly her crunchy drives and ability to time the ball to perfection was lauded by many. It was great to see the only 4th double centurion of Indian domestic circuit, finally get the recognition she always deserved.

Now that she is known to fans, it's equally important for everyone to know how her entire journey from being a cricket fan, to a world cup winner has unfolded. Her journey begins from Dombivali, Mumbai. Her initial introduction to the game was done by her father, Vinod Chalke, when he used to play in the society compound. At a tender age of 7, Sanika accompanied her father and used to field on most of the occasions. For around next 2-3 years, her cricket was limited to her society friend circle. Then at the age of 10, her developed interest in the game propelled her to enroll for the Diwali cricket camp organized in her school.

Till that point, her game was more out of love, than out of the will to receive formal training. But something happened the same year on Republic Day, which changed her mind and minds of people who witnessed it. On 26th January 2017, a cricket tournament for women was organized in her society, which saw 10 year old Sanika score 106 runs in a 6 over match. Everyone was awestruck by the little girl's batting, and asked Sanika's parents to enroll the southpaw for formal training. The fondness which Sanika and her father shared for the game, combined with her newly found potential further strengthened her case for doing so. And so the Chalke family decided to move ahead with the same.

However, finding an academy for a 10 year old girl was not as easy as it sounded. Dombivali, which is home to Indian star Ajinkya Rahane, had almost no academy for girls. After constant rejection from multiple academies and clubs, finally Dombivali Gymkhana agreed to train her. Amit Bramhane and Yogesh Virkar had a significant role to play in it, and they also taught her basics of the game. In spite of being the only girl in Dombivali Gymkhana, Sanika honed her leg spin skills beautifully and evolved herself greatly in a short period of time. Amit and Yogesh's coaching, and Sanika's quick grasping abilities were noticed further by Rajan Dhotre, who agreed to train Sanika at the Boys Cricket Club in Dombivali.

Dhotre sir further honed her skills as a leg spinner. Simultaneously, her father Vinod gave her knocking practice back in home, and also showed her lot of YouTube videos of batting. He also gave her throwdowns and monitored her shadow practice. A result of both these things was seen in a match when her team required 28 runs in few balls and Sanika won the game with her bat. The incident marked the beginning of Sanika as an all-rounder, something which would continue for the rest of her career till now. The outcome of her all round abilities proved vital to her, as she went on to win Player of the Tournament award in the prestigious Vengasarkar Trophy which happened at Chembur.

With accolades coming at regular intervals, she now aimed to play at an higher level. And school cricket helped her in achieving the same. Her role changed to all-rounder yielded her success at club level, and her school changed to RR Education Trust gave her the required boost to prosper at school level cricket. And a massive share of her school level success should be credited to Pratik Dharamshi, one of the board members of RR Education Trust. It was Mr Dharamshi's initiative to start a school cricket team for girls, and Sanika was an obvious choice to be a part of it. And living up to the expectations of Mr Dharamshi, Sanika continued to do what she did at the club level. The way she was performing, the best player award at the School level was just waiting for her, which she grabbed with both hands.

A result of repeated success at club and school level, Sanika was selected for MCA camp. After waiting for around 2 yrs, her potential was spotted by the watchful eyes of former India player Sunetra Paranjpe and the selectors, who gave Sanika the first break in the Mumbai U-19 squad, at a mere age of 14. Under the guidance of Sunetra Paranjpe and Ajay Kadam, Sanika bettered her performances with every game she played. But with every new opportunity, newer struggles opened up for her. She had to travel for 2 hours one way to practice in the MCA Camps, which she gladly did along with her father accompanying her every time.

On one side, Sanika kept hustling, and on the other side her father did everything possible to support the dream of his daughter. His dedication for Sanika was unequivocally important to help Sanika reach the place she enjoys today. 4 years back, when Sanika started to show some promise as a cricketer, Vinod Chalke took a tough call of leaving his high paying job, in order to support and accompany his teenage daughter. He also requested many academies to provide one net for Sanika to practice in the evening, and his efforts yielded results as Cricket Club of Dombivali offered her unconditional support by giving one net without charging a single penny. The club supported her during tough times, and a blend of her will and her father's efforts including throwdowns during lockdown ensured that she is never away from the game.

Support of all these people, combined with all the hard yards, were just the exact things Sanika required. And now it was time for her to shine and own the game. And she did it in some style. All the tournaments she played post Covid, she scored truckload of runs. She was the highest run getter for Mumbai, and was eventually selected for the U19 Challenger Tropy in 2022-23. She was eyeing for the place in the inaugural U-19 World Cup squad, and was batting in great form before the selection matches. It seemed like everything had just started to fall in place. However, fate played it's part, and Sanika injured her hand badly just a day before the Challenger Trophy started. 3 stitches in her hand meant that her hopes of getting selected in the U-19 World Cup 2023 were shattered and she could not play any match in Challengers trophy.

With shattered hopes, people have the option to either quit, or bounce back stronger. And Sanika chose the second option. Just like someone has said, champions don't rely on fate, they make their own fate. Living up to these words, Sanika wrecked havoc after she resumed to play the game. She owned Women's U-19 One Day Tournament like a boss, and made her name into the history books of Indian domestic circuit, as she became the only 4th player to score a double hundred in a domestic match. She joined the elite list consisting of Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Raghvi Bisht to achieve this feat, while being the only non-opener to do so. She achieved this superhuman feat after coming on the crease at around 20th over, and ended her innings remaining unbeaten on 200 off just 117 deliveries. In the same trophy, she amassed more than 600 runs, topping the run chart.

And since then, she never looked back. With the bat, she scored plenty of runs, and her leg break gave her team crucial breakthroughs. She was turning into a match winner. And a result of all these performances was that one firstly saw her get a chance in senior Mumbai team, and then make her way to the probables of U-19 World Cup squad 2025. Knowing her potential, she was also assigned the task of leading Indian A U-19 team in the tri-series between South Africa, India A and India B teams. And it was certainly not a surprise to see her in the Asia Cup squad and World Cup squad for U-19 Indian team, both of which were won by the Indian team.

The 7 year old little girl who went to play cricket with her father, carried a billion expectations with pride to give joy to the entire nation. The proud daughter of Vinod Chalke and Samruddhi Chalke, now became pride of the nation at a mere age of 19. The girl who was disappointed to miss the 2023 U-19 World Cup, played a crucial part to bring smile on the faces of her countrymen by winning the 2025 U-19 World Cup. With her achievement, she not just unfurled the Indian flag high, but also lived up to the expectations of all those who supported her at regular intervals to reach at that level. One can imagine the happiness of her parents to know that their daughter is now a World Cup Winning Vice-Captain. The journey, which all of them have collectively shared, is truly incredible.

From a cricket lover, to a world cup winner, Sanika indeed came a long way. But the journey is yet just half done, and she has to go a long way ahead. And with every passing day, she toils even harder to move an inch closer to her ultimate dream of representing Women in Blue senior team. A current player of Cricket Mantra Academy (Senroof Cricket Ground, Mulund) trains hard under the guidance of Swapnil Pradhan and Manish Rao every single day. And we're sure that the faith her coach, her parents and all her well wishers show in her will turn true very soon. Today, as her story continues to inspire lot of people, she aspires to play at the highest level soon. And as cricket fans, it's our dream to see her in that blue jersey too. Wishing her all the best for the same.

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