Sajana Who?
At 29, Sajana Sajeevan certainly isn’t one for the future. When Mumbai Indians bought her for Rs 15 lakh at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction last December, few even noticed. Unlike the marquee buys like Shabnim Ismail, Sajana was just seen as a squad-filler.
5 needed off the final delivery and S Sajana smashed it for a 6 to win the #WPL2024 opener for defending Mumbai Indians!
What a start to the tournament!!
pic.twitter.com/3eBKZqgu7j— RevSportz (@RevSportz) February 23, 2024
But the beauty of the Twenty20 format is that it sometimes just needs one ball to make a name. When Sajana marked her guard with five needed off the last ball, most Mumbai fans were resigned to an opening-night loss. Apart from having dropped Alice Capsey off Ismail earlier in the evening, there was nothing in Sajana’s back catalogue to suggest she would have the last word. But instead of being intimidated, she skipped down the pitch to Capsey and launched one way over the rope at wide long-on.
Sajana was born in Mananthavadi in Kerala’s Western Ghats. While Wayanad district is now a popular tourist destination, Mananthavadi remains off the beaten track, a place where you still get landslides during the monsoon.
Delhi Capitals’ Minnu Mani is the better-known Kerala cricketer, but it took Sajana just a few seconds to ensure that she will certainly have a place in this season’s narrative.
Vastrakar’a Brain Fade
Pooja Vastrakar has 92 caps for India across formats. With Harmanpreet Kaur smashing Annabel Sutherland’s last ball for six to bring the equation down to 12 off the final over, the task for Vastrakar was very clear. Pinch a single and turn the strike over to her well-set captain. Instead, she went for a glory hoick that didn’t even clear the inner ring. By the time Harmanpreet got the strike back, only three balls remained. That Sajana rescued the situation is another matter, but Vastrakar’s lack of game sense was truly baffling.
So Near Yet So Far for Capsey
With Shafali Verma never getting going and Meg Lanning taking time to shake off the rust, Delhi needed someone to kickstart their innings. That was Capsey. Watchful while Lanning was at the crease, she had 31 off 30 balls at one stage. Of the next 23 balls, she smashed 44, including towering sixes over long-on off both Hayley Matthews and Saika Ishaque.
Giving her the final over after she had conceded 10 in her first was always going to be a gamble, yet she so nearly pulled it off. Both Vastrakar and Harmanpreet fell to miscues, and it was only the presence of a complete unknown opposite her that prevented Capsey from being the game’s most influential player.
Ismail is Old Gold
Ismail no longer plays international cricket for South Africa. And at 35, it’s not wrong to say his best years are behind her. But UP Warriors, who barely played her last season and who let her go before this one, had better pray that their pace-bowling unit is up to scratch. On opening night, Ismail was just superb, castling Shafali and conceding just 10 from her first three overs.
That her final one went for 14 was largely the result of two missed catches and a free hit that went for four. In a match where most bowlers took a pounding, Ismail’s experience and undimmed enthusiasm stood out.
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