PM Modi praises Renuka Singh: The Indian women's cricket team recently created history in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022. Even though the Indian team lost to Australia in the final, they won the silver medal -- India's first-ever medal in cricket at the Commonwealth Games (CWG). Pace bowler Renuka Singh Thakur, who hails from Himachal Pradesh's Shimla, was an important contributor to India's silver medal win.
Renuka was the highest wicket-taker in the tournament. She took 11 wickets in five matches at an impressive economy rate of 5.47. This also includes the feat of taking four wickets each in the match against Australia and Barbados. Renuka Singh became the second Indian fast bowler after Jhulan Goswami to take four wickets in T20Is.
Renuka's impressive CWG outing even forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to praise her during the Commonwealth Games contingent's felicitation ceremony on August 13. PM Modi said that Renuka Singh's performance will encourage more and more young girls to take up sports as a career.
“The performance of all the players was excellent. Nobody had the answer against the swing of Renuka Singh Thakur. To be among the top wicket-takers in the Commonwealth Games is no little achievement. Her face has the peace of Shimla and the smile of mountains but her aggression puts the top batters in trouble. Such performance will definitely encourage daughters from distant areas to dream big,” the Prime Minister said in his speech.
Reacting to PM Modi's words of encouragement, Renuka's mother, in an exclusive interview with Indian Express said," Whatever Renuka has achieved is due to her hard work and love for cricket. My husband died when she was very young, but I made sure that she and her brother did not face any difficulty. To listen to PM Modi praising Renuka today is one of the biggest moments for Renuka and the whole family.”