In India, we often struggle to find the balance between studies and sports. In the quest for studies, we ignore our sports. However, this individual achieved a unique thing. She is a scientist who has studied medical genetics from the University of Newcastle. However, she is also an ace cricketer. Her journey began in the early 2000s with the Karnataka State Cricket Association women’s team that included future and past stars in Veda Krishnamurthy and Shantha Rangaswamy. She moved abroad and played in the Germany women’s cricket team. Yes, there is a cricket team from Germany. Recently, when the coronavirus shut down all sports, only England vs West Indies Tests was being telecast. However, unknown to all, there was a second series between Austria and Germany and it was a T20I series.

In that match, she achieved a record that has been achieved only by Lasith Malinga (twice) and Afghanistan legspinner Rashid Khan. She took four wickets in four balls and ended up with figures of 5/1. This is the story of Anuradha Dodabballapur, a scientist who is also a cricket captain. Her feats have put Germany on the cricket map. In addition, the team is on a nine-game winning streak in T20Is.

In an exclusive chat with DNA, Dr Anuradha outlined how she managed to balance the nuances of studies and sports brilliantly. “It is more of time management. We knew education was important. It was not pressure from the family. We had to keep up in school to progress to the next year. I just happened to be more interested in cricket. I knew that I wanted to do well in Biology in higher school and thus cricket was never an hindrance,” Anuradha said.

Putting Germany on the map

Dr Anuradha’s journey has been one of adjusting to the situation. When she made the decision to move to the UK for her medical genetics, her cricketing career was tapering off but she holds no regrets. “I had stopped playing cricket in my last year of engineering as I found it hard to manage practical stuff, exams, entrance exams. Cricket had tapered off in my final year of engineering. It was never a regret as to ‘why I left India, I could have played cricket’. I am at peace with the journey so far,” Anuradha was clear.

Her move to Germany, for her PhD in Cardiovascular Biology at the Goethe University in Frankfurt did not deter her from the passion of cricket. With years of toil, she finally managed to scale the summit during Germany's 5-0 whitewash of Austria, which included her feat of four wickets in four balls as well as five-wicket haul.

When asked whether she can be considered a pioneer of women’s cricket in Germany, she said that would be discrediting a lot of people. “Being the captain, you feel it is just you. It is not the case. There are a lot of girls who are doing lot of grassroots work in the game. Our manager and vice-president Monica Loveday, if it was not for her, German women’s cricket would not be where it is today. She is a former player and now she is in administration. You need women to be on board in order to make change possible,” Anuradha said.

Big tournament presence

The coronavirus situation ensured that very limited cricket was being played. During the lockdown, only the England vs West Indies Test and the Germany vs Austria game was being shown by TV and live streaming sites. In an odd, twisted way, Anuradha pointed out, “I am glad that Austria managed to host the tournament amidst the situation. I don’t think we had so many streaming numbers for Associate member games. It was good awareness for lesser-known cricket matches.”

In the 2020 World T20, Thailand made an impression when they reached a major ICC tournament. Germany made it to the qualifers of the 2018 World T20 but fell short. When asked whether she sees Germany in a major event in the future, Anuradha was a bit more pragmatic. “We know the challenges. It has been an upward trend. We have had nine T20I wins in a row. We won in Oman and now Austria and that is why we are feeling great. In the years to come, with better investment and support, we will do better. We hope to play higher ranked teams. It might take a bit longer for us to feature in a major tournament. You just have to top the qualifiers but we will do our best for it.