Bangalore University’s 19-year-old Simran Henry owns the pitch

BENGALURU:  Simran Henry, a 19-year-old cricketer, has set the record for scoring the highest runs in a single game in the history of Bangalore University’s women’s cricket.

She scored a total of 154 runs out of 72 balls against Pondicherry University in the pre-quarterfinals match of the South Zone Inter-University Women Cricket Championship 2017-18, played last week. Along with this individual feat, she also holds the record for the highest partnership score in the same match with another cricketer Monisha, a student of Mount Carmel College. Together the two scored a total of 241 runs.    

A student of St Joseph’s College of Commerce, cricket has always been in Simran’s blood. Her father Henry Anthony is a state level cricketer and a coach. She has been playing the game since she was only nine years old and has represented the state at all levels – under-16, under-19, under-23 teams and is also part of the state woman’s Ranji team. 

Talking about her record breaking match, Simran says, “I opened the match as I always do. I was riding high on the confidence of my two previous matches. I had scored 107 runs against Adikavi Nanaya University (AP) and 88 runs against Thiruvallvar University (Vellore) earlier. I was however, not over the top and it took me a while to settle in.

Once this happened the runs kept flowing. I hit three sixes and around 18 fours. My partner Monisha also gave me a good support. It was a special knock indeed,” says the all-rounder who can also throw in some devastating off-spins.  When asked about her Ranji matches, Simran says they definitely are more “tight” matches and difficult to score in. “This however, does not mean that university matches are any easier. There are some very good players who themselves are state players in university matches. I play every ball according to its merit irrespective of it being a Ranji or a university match,” she adds.  

When asked about the new found attention that women cricket is receiving especially after the national women team’s big performance in the Word Cup, Simran says, “Compared to when I started, the situation has definitely improved a lot. There are more matches and more recognition. We fly to our matches, stay in good hotels and get our allowances and a lot of encouragement.” There is however, still a huge disparity when compared to men’s cricket.

“Women get around Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 per match for a Ranji game, however, for men, it is around Rs 1 lakh per match. However, having said that I never play for the benefits. I play for the love of the game,” she says. Simran looks up to Harman Preet and Veda Krishnamurthy (who is also her friend) from the National women’s team and Virat Kohli and South African cricketer A B De Villiers as role models.