Achieving excellence demands sacrifice, a principle well understood by teenager Madhura Babar. To pursue her dream of playing for India one day, the 13-year-old commutes six hours daily to attend practice at the Female Cricket Academy in Mumbai, an opportunity she values deeply.
“I wake up daily at 4 a.m. and start my railway train journey around 5 a.m. At around 6:30 a.m., I reach Shivaji Park, the place where we practice. Once I finish my practice session, I start my return journey home and usually arrive by noon, which means that half of my day is spent travelling for just two hours of cricket. After that, from 2pm – 6pm, I study in my tuition classes.”
Babar’s dedication is evident, and she credits Indian cricketer Richa Ghosh’s batting style as her inspiration to take up the sport.
“I saw Richa Ghosh hitting long sixes with an aggressive mindset. I really feel that one day I will play just like her.”
Female Cricket Academy Cricketer, Madhura Babar
“I also like Smriti Mandhana, M.S. Dhoni, and Virat Kohli. Smriti for her batting, her very positive mindset in batting. I admire Dhoni for his calmness, positive mindset, strong mind, and quick reactions. When it comes to Kohli, it’s for his classical batting, aggressive mindset, and run-chasing skills,” she went on to say.
Babar started pursuing her journey to success when she joined the Female Cricket Academy in November 2025, and says her coaches have not only helped her skill up her game but have also given her a necessary confidence boost.
“The coaching in the academy is very helpful. The coach cleared all my doubts about cricket, and I can see a lot of improvement after joining the Female Cricket Academy.”
While playing international cricket one day is a dream, she still has to complete her studies, and balancing her sports career and school can sometimes be tricky, but she maintains stability in her daily routine.
“It takes a lot of mental strength and patience to balance both. After cricket, I have to complete my workbooks, which my friends do in school, so I have to sit for a long time and finish them. While travelling in the train, I study, which saves a lot of my time.”
Any young sportswoman needs to have a good support structure, and it is no different for Babar, who says her mother is her biggest backer and has to make a lot of personal sacrifices, which has allowed her to start playing cricket.
“My mother is my biggest supporter. She travels with me. She sold all her jewellery and even her house so I can pursue my dream of playing cricket. She has promised me that she will never stop me from playing cricket.”
She had these words of wisdom for young aspiring cricketers, urging them to always be confident in their skills and put in the work to make their dreams come true.
My advice to young cricketers is to believe in themselves, work hard for their dreams, and practice with consistency. These things will help them succeed and achieve their goals.
Vishal Yadav is the man behind the Female Cricket Academy, and the idea stemmed from the success of the Indian Women’s team at the 2017 Cricket World Cup. However, a year before this, he had already begun Female Cricket, whose sole aim is to create gender parity in coverage of women’s sport from around the globe.
After India finished as runners-up at the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup, Yadav saw the immense interest and from there decided it was time to create the Female Cricket Academy, and as he puts it, “The tournament changed the course of women’s cricket in India, and showed how one event can bring a larger social shift.”
Yadav explains how he received calls from parents who were interested in getting their daughters to play cricket.
“After the final on 23 July 2017, we received several calls and messages from parents asking for a place where their daughters could learn cricket. When I spoke to coaches in Mumbai, I realised there was no academy exclusively training girls.”
Female Cricket Academy’s Vishal Yadav
“Parents were hesitant to send their daughters to academies where boys trained due to safety and injury concerns. Seeing their enthusiasm, I felt that if an immediate option was not available, the interest might fade. That led me to start the Female Cricket Academy. The first batch had ten girls, which grew to forty by the end of the summer, and I realised we were onto something significant.”
So how did Yadav become such a fierce advocate for women’s cricket? According to him, “It’s a long story,” but as he explains, he saw just how difficult it was to source information on the women’s game, and as a fervent supporter of cricket, he knew he had to change that once he graduated from university.
“For almost two years, as a side hobby, I devoted myself to covering men’s cricket. I reached out to many cricketers through social media, asking if they would be interested in interviews so I could publish their stories. Most of them were domestic cricketers or players in the reckoning, not very popular but with stories to share,” says Yadav. “They happily agreed, and during that period, I interviewed more than 100 cricketers, some from the Indian domestic setup, and many from associate nations as well.”
“During one of these interactions, I reached out to a female cricketer from Germany. One day, she asked me what the Indian women’s cricket team looked like and how the setup worked. This was around 2013. I used to take pride in my cricket knowledge, but I had no answer to that question. That was the moment I realised my knowledge was limited only to men’s cricket, and I knew almost nothing about women’s cricket. It was both unfortunate and eye-opening.”
I then searched online and read whatever information I could find, which was actually very limited on Google and Wikipedia. I realised that women cricketers had equally powerful stories, but they were not covered by mainstream media. Both men and women were representing the country, yet men’s cricket dominated while women’s cricket remained sidelined.”
An ICC commentator in India for the men’s T20I World Cup, gsport founder Kass Naidoo spent a few hours with the young Female Cricket Academy cricketers during a recent stopover in Mumbai. Yadav says the experience was one the girls will not forget.
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“Kass spoke about how manifestation has worked in her favour, how she writes down her goals, and how she stays positive until they are achieved. Every girl present in that session had something to take away from her story. She interacted with all the players like a mother, a mentor, and a teacher.”
“She explained how being present and staying humble helps in one’s journey, both personal and professional, and why one should never stop learning,” says Yadav. “She shared several moments and incidents from her personal journey, which felt very special and personal, and the girls were in awe listening to her. It was a brief 30-minute interaction, and everyone wished it could have been longer.”
Yadav is hopeful that women’s cricket will become more mainstream in his country and anticipates some of the players from the academy will be playing for India in the coming years.
“With Female Cricket, my dream is to see women’s cricket become mainstream. By that I mean I want to see more girls and teams playing cricket in every nook and corner. If I am walking down a street in any part of India, or even around the world, I would love to see a girls’ team playing cricket and enjoying the game. I know it is a long-term dream and will take time, but I do see it happening.
“Just like boys play gully or street cricket, I hope women’s cricket also becomes a part of that culture, especially in India, where street cricket is so common.”
With the Female Cricket Academy, my ultimate goal is to see at least one cricketer from our academy represent India in the next ten years.”
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Yadav spoke highly of Babar, identifying the youngster as an exciting talent, and a great role model for young girls.
“Her progress motivates young girls because, as they say, ‘You can’t be what you can’t see.’ So when everyone in the academy sees Madhura, they aspire to be like her.”
“When girls see someone from their surroundings doing well in tournaments and moving forward in cricket, it inspires not just them but also their parents. We have seen similar influence from players like Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Ghosh, and Deepti Sharma in their hometowns, where the local support plays a huge role in shaping their journey.”
He urged parents who are looking to enrol their daughters in cricket academies to have realistic expectations and not to put pressure on them as they navigate their cricket journey.
“You cannot enrol your daughter and expect her to play for the state or national team within a year,” says Yadav. “Many parents come with the preconceived notion that joining a cricket academy guarantees playing for the country, but there are many other factors involved. It takes a village to nurture an athlete.”
“It is important for the parents to treat cricket or any sport as an enjoyable activity that also builds life skills. Sports teach teamwork, communication, empathy, and how to handle failure. There are many life lessons a girl can learn from cricket or any other sport.”
“So when enrolling your daughter, encourage her to learn these skills and avoid putting unnecessary pressure on her to play for a professional or national team within a fixed timeline.”
Main Photo Caption: Achieving excellence demands sacrifice, a principle well understood by teenager Madhura Babar. To pursue her dream of playing for India one day, the 13-year-old commutes six hours daily to attend practice at the Female Cricket Academy in Mumbai, an opportunity she values deeply. Photos: Supplied
Photo 2 Caption: Madhura Babar trains daily at the Female Cricket Academy in Mumbai with dreams of one day representing India.
Photo 3 Caption: gsport founder Kass Naidoo visited the Female Cricket Academy during a recent stopover in Mumbai.
Photo 4 Caption: The Female Cricket Academy has grown from ten players to over forty since its launch after the 2017 World Cup.
Photo 5 Caption: Vishal Yadav founded the Female Cricket Academy in 2017 to give girls in Mumbai a dedicated space to develop.
