Thinking I was the greatest player at 18 was my life's biggest mistake, reveals Veda Krishnamurthy

Thinking I was the greatest player at 18 was my life's biggest mistake, reveals Veda Krishnamurthy

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Krishnamurthy made her India debut at the age of 18

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Veda Krishnamurthy has claimed that she thought of herself as the biggest player when she was just 18, which worked against her development in the formative years. Krishnamurthy has also added that her aggressive batting nature has sometimes put her off but she doesn’t regret that much.

Known for her aggressive batting display, Veda was the third Indian women’s cricketer to play in the Women’s Big Bash League after Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana. Her rise since making her ODI debut against England in 2011 was tremendous for the first few years but the subsequent years saw her falling prey to a lot of expectations and Veda faltered to keep pace. Letting her guard down, the Indian women’s middle-order batsman talked about that phase in her life and how she understood the lessons soon after.

"The biggest mistake of my cricket career was that I thought I was the greatest player when I was 18. I thought I was bigger than the game, that nobody could be better than me. It was only in 2014-15 when things started to fall in place for me. I realised cricket is bigger than anyone. This is true for life as well. You need to have gratitude, appreciation for what you have,” Veda said on Indian Express Facebook Live.

"My aggressive nature has definitely gone against me sometimes in my career. The higher the reward associated with risk, the higher is the chance of missing out. But I don't regret any of the rash shots I played. Regrets don't work."

"I like to stick to my natural game. If it comes off, it will flip the match in such a way that the opponents cannot come back. Sometimes because of me, things have gone wrong for the team, but that's cricket. You cannot let go off your natural instincts. I would like to say I am the nail in the coffin, either for my team or the other team, depends on how that day turns out."

The 27-year-old from Chikmanglur, who is an unabashed Mithali Raj fan, started formal cricket training in the Karnataka Institute of Cricket after being inspired by the women’s cricketing icon. The flamboyant batter, who spent a lot of time with Mithali Raj during her 48-match ODI and 76-match T20I career, stated that she was in awe of Raj during her initial years in Karnataka.

"Mithali scored a double-hundred in a two-day match when I had just started playing for Karnataka. I was struck by how effortlessly she scored her runs. When I first batted with her, I called up a friend and told her, 'Do you know who I batted with today?' That's the kind of influence she had on us. I have learnt a lot in the 8-9 years I have spent with her. Mithali is very professional. We all try to learn from her how she manages to compartmentalise things, does one thing at a time. She has mastered the art of concentration."

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