A meteoric rise

Through single-mindedness, Hemalatha Dayalan, a resident of Porur, transformed herself into a batting all-rounder and made it to the higher echelons of women’s cricket

Hemalatha Dayalan was initiated into formal cricket only at age 17, when she began to play for her college team.

She seems to have made up for lost time. Twenty-three-years-old old now, she has carved a place for herself in the national squad and recently, made it to the IPL Trailblazers squad in the Women’s IPL exhibition T20 challenge. Recognised for her bowling and fielding skills, she made it to the state team within a year, and a year later, tranformed herself into a batting all-rounder.

“A score of 150 against Hyderabad in 2017 is my best and favourite performance,” says Hema.

She attributes a huge part of her success to coach Peter Fernandez and her family.