Rajeshwari Gayakwad is an Indian cricketer who plays as a slow left-arm orthodox bowler for the national team. She has represented Karnataka, Railways, Trailblazers and Supernovas in domestic cricket. She was acquired by franchise team UP Warriorz for the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in 2023.
Wiki/Biography
Rajeshwari Shivanand Gayakwad was born on Saturday, June 1, 1991, in Bijapur, Karnataka (32 years; as of 2023). Her zodiac sign is Gemini. Rajeshwari belongs to a music-loving family. Her grandfather was a musician. Before she and her siblings took up professional sports, they were all musicians. Rajeshwari and her sisters sang, while her brother and father played different instruments. On the weekends, her father gave music lessons to all the children. However, she was very athletic from an early age, playing javelin, discus, Kho-Kho and volleyball during her school days. Later, she developed a keen interest in cricket, playing gully cricket with her father and brothers. At the age of 16, she joined the Bijapur Women’s Cricket Club along with her sister Rameshwari Gayakwad after her father, an ardent fan of the sport, learned that the club was conducting free training camps for girls. However, Rajeshwari, who came from a humble background, encountered many difficulties at the beginning of his cricket career. In an interview, she also talked about the same and said:
I come from a poor family. My father was a teacher in a government primary school. When I was selected for the Karnataka team, I didn’t have white pants and a white T-shirt. My dad bought a secondhand pair of pants and had them altered. I managed school white shirts instead of white T-shirts. Whenever I think of those days of struggle, I can’t help crying, and the tears flow down unconsciously. I am facing a lot of financial problems. “
At the club, her athletic talent was recognized by Basavaraj Ijeri, the director of the Bijapur Women’s Cricket Club. Apart from Basavaraj Ijeri, Rajeshwari also received coaching from Ashok Jadhav, Saleem TT, Shridhar Joshi, Kalal and AG Patel at the club. For the first few years, she pitched fast. However, Gayakwad turned to spin when her coach Ashok Jadhav insisted that she did not have enough strength and height to become a fast bowler. After two months of formal training, she secured a place in the Karnataka team. After being selected for the state team, she was coached by Kalpana Venkatacharya, Shantha Rangswamy and Gayathri. She studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree. In 2014, after she made her debut in the international series against Sri Lanka, her father died of cardiac arrest. After that, she became the family’s sole breadwinner. To support her family after her father’s death, she joined the Indian Railways and was selected for its cricket team in 2015, after which she started living in Bengaluru. Later, she was posted to Western Railways (WR) and started living in the WR hostel in Matunga, Mumbai.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′3″
Hair color: black
Eye color: black
family
Parents and siblings
Her father Shivanand Gayakwad is a primary school teacher in a government school. He died of cardiac arrest in 2014 while watching an IPL match with his daughters at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Her mother’s name is Savitha Gayakwad.
Old photos of Rajeshwari Gayakwad’s parents
Rajeshwari Gayakwad and sister Rameshwari Gayakwad with their father
Rajeshwari Gayakwad and her mother
She has two brothers, Kashinath Gayakwad and Vishwanath Gayakwad, and two sisters, Rameshwari Gayakwad and Bhuvaneshwari Gayakwad. Kashinath Gayakwad is a professional tabla player and has won 3 national awards at the regional level. Her younger brother Vishwanath Gayakwad is a badminton and volleyball player. Her sister Rameshwari Gayakwad is also a professional cricketer, playing for Karnataka. Bhuvaneshwari has represented the Karnataka hockey team.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad and her siblings
husband and children
She is unmarried.
religion
Rajeshwari Gayakwad followed Hinduism.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad performance puja
Profession
domestic
She has represented Karnataka and Indian Railways in domestic cricket. In the inaugural Women’s T20 Challenge (2018), Gayakwad played for IPL Supernovas and the team won the match by 3 wickets. She was selected in the squad of IPL Trail Blazers for the 2020 Women’s T20 Challenge and became the tournament champions by defeating IPL Supernovas by 16 runs in the final. In the 2022 Women’s T20 Challenge, she once again played against the IPL Trail Blazers.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad bowls for Trailblazers
She played for the India D team in the 2021-22 Senior Women’s Challenger Cup, but lost to the India A team in the final. She is the third highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 7 dismissals. In May 2022, she was part of the Railways team that defeated Maharashtra by seven wickets to win the BCCI Women’s T-20 (2021-2022). In the Women’s Senior T20 Challenger Trophy 2022-23, she played for India D, who beat India A by 7 wickets to become champions.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad as player of India D team poses with Women’s Senior T20 Challenger Trophy 2022
International
She made her debut on 19 January 2014 against Sri Lanka at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. She made her debut in a T20 match against Sri Lanka on 25 January 2014 at the PVG Raju ACA Sports Center in Vizian Nagaram. 2013/14 Lanka Women Tour of India. She made her debut on 16 November 2014 against South Africa at the Gangatri Glades Cricket Ground in Mysore during the 2014/2015 South Africa Women’s tour of India. She was selected in India’s squad for the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup. Rajeshwari’s stunning figures of 5/15 helped India defeat New Zealand and reach the World Cup semi-finals; her figures are the best in the history of India’s Women’s Cricket World Cup. However, England defeated India in the final at Lord’s by 9 runs.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad celebrates taking a wicket during the T20I tri-series final against India in Melbourne on February 12, 2020
She was named in India’s squad for the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, 2022 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup and 2022 Commonwealth Games Cricket Championship. India won the silver medal after losing to Australia by 9 runs in the final of the 2022 Commonwealth Games Cricket Championship.
India women’s national cricket team poses with silver medal after losing to Australia by nine runs at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Cricket Championship
With 9 wickets, Rajeshwari Gayakwad became one of the highest wicket-taker in the Women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup 2022. India defeated Sri Lanka by 8 points to win the championship.
Indian Women’s National Cricket Team after winning Women’s 2020 Asia Cup 2022
Women’s Premier League (WPL)
In February 2023, she was acquired by UP Warriorz for Rs. WPL first season revenue reached 4 million.
Facts/Trivia
- Growing up, she idolized Zaheer Khan. Later, Ravindra Jadeja became her inspiration.
- In an interview, she attributed her cricketing success to her father. she says,
My father longed to play serious cricket but never had the opportunity to express himself. When he realized I had a talent, he wanted me to receive formal instruction. Initially, I bowled with left-arm medium pace, but my coach told me to try left-arm orthodox spin. Two months after I officially started coaching, I started playing for Karnataka.”
- After her success at the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup, she was dubbed the uncrowned princess of Bijapur.
- Even though she emerged as one of India’s best performers at the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup, she still lives in a rented house. After the World Cup, her mother said in an interview,
We were constantly changing houses. My daughter is a successful international cricketer but we still don’t have a house. “
The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) also congratulated her
Rajeshwari Gayakwad (left) and Veda Krishnamurthy are felicitated by the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) after the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2017
After the World Cup, Water Resources Minister MB Patil gifted her a car worth Rs 5 lakh, but she refused, saying her priority now is to buy a house for her family. she says,
It’s very kind of you to do this, sir. But I didn’t want a car; I wanted a car. I want to build a house for my family including mother, sister and brother. Shelter is what we desperately need right now. “
- She plays for India Women and UP Warriorz with jersey number #1.
- Her batting style is right-handed and her bowling style is slow left-handed orthodoxy.
- In November 2022, Sir Padampat Singhania University awarded Rajeshwari Gayakwad the honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad was awarded the Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy by Sir Padampat Singhania University Professor in November 2022
- In 2022, a video went viral on the internet in which Rajeshwari Gayakwad was seen having an altercation with a shopkeeper at a supermarket on Solapur Road in Vijayapura. According to reports, the cricketer went into the shop to buy some cosmetics and a heated argument ensued that turned violent. Rajeshwari got into an argument with the shop owner over the price of some products and the two got into a heated argument. Soon, her friends broke into the store and beat the owner. However, neither party filed a complaint regarding the incident.
- She has a tattoo on her left arm.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad’s Tattoo
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education