Indian Women U-19 team are just one win away from creating history in the inaugural edition of ICC U-19 Women's T20 World Cup. India's U-19 women's cricket team will become the first-ever winners of the Junior T20 World Cup if they beat England Women U19 team, Sunday, at South Africa's Senwes Park in Potchefstroom.
While Indian women's U-19 team faces an uphill task of scripting history, a family of one of the players is facing the challenge to watch the complete match itself at home, without any interruptions.
Bowling all-rounder Archana Devi's mother, in an exclusive conversation with Indian Express, revealed that they collected money to buy an inverter to ensure that they get to watch the complete game as there is no guarantee of electricity in their town.
“There is no guarantee of electricity in our village (Unnao) tomorrow. Hence, I have collected money to buy an inverter. My daughter is in the team playing the World Cup final and we hope to watch the match on my mobile phone without any interruption,” Archana's mother Savitri told Indian Express.
Archana's mother also talked about the hardships her family faced in helping Archana reach where she has.
"I worked on our 1-acre farm and sold milk from the two cows we owned to make ends meet. People used to taunt me because I sent Archana away from home to stay in the Kasturba Gandhi Girls School hostel in Ganj Muradabad. Before she got admission there, it was difficult to afford even her daily bus fare of Rs 30. Those who used to taunt me are congratulating me these days," she added.
India Women U19 Squad: Shafali Verma (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), Shweta Sehrawat, Soumya Tiwari, Gongadi Trisha, Hrishita Basu, Titas Sadhu, Mannat Kashyap, Archana Devi, Parshavi Chopra, Sonam Yadav, Soppadhandi Yashasri, Falak Naz, Shabnam MD, Sonia Mendhiya, Hurley Gala