Asha Sobhana (born 16 March 1991) is an Indian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who plays for

Pondicherry women's cricket team The Pondicherry women's cricket team, also known as Puducherry women's cricket team, is a women's cricket team that represents the Indian union territory of Puducherry. They were formed ahead of the 2018–19 season, and have competed in both t ...

in domestic cricket and for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Women's Premier League. She is an all-rounder, who is a right-handed

batter Batter or batters may refer to: Common meanings * Batter (cooking), thin dough that can be easily poured into a pan * Batter (baseball), person whose turn it is to face the pitcher * Batter (cricket), a player who is currently batting * Batter ...

and a leg break bowler.

Early years

Born in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, she found interest in cricket while studying at Cotton Hill Girls Higher Secondary School. Sobhana's cricket journey started when she went for her first district cricket trials and got selected for the district cricket team at the age of 12. She was mentored by former Kerala captain Shabina Jacob in her early career. Although initially she was a pace bowler, once she was bowling leg spin and was then advised by her coach to become a leg spinner. When she was 15 years old, Kerala Cricket Association sent her to train at the MAC Spin Foundation.

Domestic career

Sobhana made her

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

debut for Kerala on 28 November 2006, against Karnataka in the

2006–07 Senior Women's One Day League The 2006–07 Senior Women's One Day League was the inaugural edition of the women's List A cricket competition in India. It took place between November 2006 and January 2007, with 24 teams divided into five regional groups. Railways won the to ...

. She made her first-class debut for Kerala on 10 September 2007, against Hyderabad in the

2007–08 Inter State Women's Competition The Inter State Women's Competition was as Indian women's cricket first-class domestic competition organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The competition took place twice, in 2007–08 and 2008–09, with teams competing in tw ...

. She made her Twenty20 debut for Kerala on 3 December 2009, against Tamil Nadu in the 2008–09

Women's Senior T20 Trophy The Women's Senior T20 Trophy, previously known as the Senior Women's T20 League, is a women's Twenty20 cricket competition held in India. It began in the 2008–09 season, with 28 teams representing state cricket associations, whilst the most ...

. She joined the Railways cricket team in 2011 and represented the team for ten years. In 2022, she left the Railways team and moved to Puducherry to do commentary for a men’s T20 tournament. Eventually, she was named as the captain of the Puducherry team for the 2021–22 Women's Senior T20 Trophy. In February 2023, she was signed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore at a price of ₹10 lakh to play for them in the 2023 Women's Premier League. She was the leading wicket-taker for Puducherry in the 2023–24 Women's Senior One Day Trophy, picking up 16 wickets in seven matches. She was also the only player to score more than 200 runs and take more than 10 wickets in that tournament. On 24 February 2024, she took five wickets for 26 runs, helping RCB to beat UP Warriorz by 2 runs, during the 2024 Women's Premier League. With this, she became the first Indian player to take a

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Takin ...

in the Women's Premier League. She remained as the second highest wicket-taker of the season, claiming 12 wickets in ten matches.

International career

In April 2024, Sobhana earned her maiden call-up to the India women's cricket team for their tour to Bangladesh. She made her Twenty20 International (T20I) debut in the fourth match of same series on 6 May 2024. In May 2024, she was named in India's

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

squad for the series against South Africa. She made her ODI debut on 16 June 2024, against South Africa.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sobhana, Asha 1991 births Living people Indian cricketers India women One Day International cricketers India women Twenty20 International cricketers Cricketers from Kerala People from Thiruvananthapuram district Railways women cricketers Pondicherry women cricketers Royal Challengers Bangalore (WPL) cricketers