Veda Krishnamurthy (born 16 October 1992) is an Indian cricketer. She made her debut in international cricket at the age of 18 in a

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 ...

against

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on 30 June 2011. Krishnamurthy went on to score 51 runs in her ODI international debut. She is a right-handed batter and bowls right-arm legbreak.

Early life

The youngest of four siblings in her family, Veda started playing street cricket when she was 3. As a young girl, she was enrolled for karate classes which she hated. However, she credits the martial arts form for building her strength from a young age. Veda even earned a black belt in karate at the age of 12. Her mother Cheluvamaba Devi and her elder sister Vatsala Shivakumar succumbed to

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in 2021. She started her formal cricket training in the Karnataka Institute of Cricket in 2005 when she was 13. Realising her talent, the institute's director Irfan Sait urged Veda's father to shift her to Bengaluru to further hone her skills. The youngest daughter of a cable operator, her father moved from a small town in Karnataka's

Chikkamagaluru Chikmagalur, known officially as Chikkamagaluru, is a city and the headquarters of Chikmagalur district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Located on the foothills of the Mullayanagiri peak of the Western Ghats, the city attracts tourists from ...

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

to help realise his daughter's dream of playing for the country one day. She was initially trained at Karnataka Institute of Cricket at Bengaluru. Veda credits Irfan Sait as her first coach, who taught her the basics of the game. Coaches like Apurva Sharma and Suman Sharma also played a significant role in moulding her as a cricketer. She considered

Mithali Raj Mithali Dorai Raj (born 3 December 1982) is an Indian cricketer and a former captain of the India women's national cricket team from 2004 to 2022. Mithali is the highest run-scorer in women's international cricket and is considered one of the ...

as a role model when she was a child. Significantly, when Veda was 12, Mithali was felicitated at her school. Veda later went on to play with Mithali in both domestic and national teams.

Cricket career

In November 2015, she was named in B-grade contract list, this was first time

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offered contracts to women players.

Domestic career

Karnataka State Cricket Association hosted their first-ever

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

exhibition match between a KSCA President's XI and a KSCA Secretary's XI and Veda was chosen to lead the President's XI. In October 2017, she was signed by the

Hobart Hurricanes The Hobart Hurricanes are an Australian professional men's T20 franchise cricket team based in Tasmania, Australia. They compete in Australia's domestic T20 cricket competition known as the Big Bash League, which is a league where many in ...

for the 2017–18 Women's Big Bash League season. For the 2021 senior domestic one-day trophy, Veda was named captain of Karnataka and led the team all the way to the final, where they lost to the Railways.

International career

She made her debut in international cricket at the age of 18 in a

against

in June 2011 and went on to score 51 runs in that match. Meanwhile, her T20 debut for India was in a match against Australia in the Natwest T20 Quadrangular series at Billericay, on the same tour of England. Krishnamurthy was part of the Indian team to reach the

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of the

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where the team lost to

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by nine runs.England v India: Women's World Cup final – live!
''The Guardian'', 23 July 2017. The Indian team were chasing a target of 229 runs and required 29 off 33 balls with five wickets in hand when Veda lost her wicket. She scored 35 runs in the innings. In the final league match of the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup against New Zealand, Krishnamurthy came to bat in the 37th over. With a strike rate of over 150, she smashed 70 runs off just 45 balls, which included seven fours and two sixes, before getting run out on the penultimate ball of the innings. Her performance was highly lauded and it led the Indian side to the semi-finals of the series. She is the third cricketer from India to play in the Big Bash. Krishnamurthy secured a deal with the

Hobart Hurricanes (WBBL) The Hobart Hurricanes (WBBL) are a women's Twenty20 cricket team based in Bellerive, Tasmania. They compete in the Women's Big Bash League. History Formation One of eight founding WBBL teams, the Hobart Hurricanes are aligned with the men's ...

for the third season of the WBBL. She joined the duo of

Hayley Matthews Hayley Kristen Matthews (born 19 March 1998) is a Barbadian sportswoman. She plays international cricket for the West Indies as an all-rounder, batting right-handed and bowling right-arm off break. She plays domestic cricket for Barbados, Barb ...

and

Lauren Winfield Lauren Winfield-Hill (; born 16 August 1990) is an English cricketer who currently plays for Yorkshire, Northern Diamonds, Oval Invincibles, Melbourne Stars and England. She plays as a right-handed batter and occasional wicket-keeper. She made ...

. In October 2018, she was named in India's squad for the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC Women's World Twenty20, hosted in the West Indies from 9 to 24 November 2018. It the second World Twenty20 hosted by the West Indies (after the 2010 edition), and the West Ind ...

tournament in the West Indies. In January 2020, she was named in India's squad for the

2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup The 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Women's T20 World Cup tournament. It was held in Australia between 21 February and 8 March 2020. The final took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on International Women's Day. Hosts Aus ...

in Australia.

Personal life

In September 2022, it was announced on Veda Instagram account that she engaged to cricketer Arjun Hoysala. Krishnamurthy has several

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

s. In the Railways and Indian teams, she has always been referred to as "Ved". At the Hurricanes, she was called "Darth" or "Darthy", a name chosen by

Corinne Hall Corinne Louise Hall (born 12 October 1987) is an Australian cricketer who plays as a right-handed batter and occasional right-arm off break bowler for Sydney Thunder in the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL). She has previously played for New Sou ...

, after

Darth Vader Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George ...

. In the Karnataka circuit, she is known as "Dhana". According to Krishnamurthy, that word "... literally translates to cow. But in context here, Dhana means a buffalo, because of my height. When I started playing, I was only four feet tall."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnamurthy, Veda 1992 births Living people Cricketers from Karnataka Indian women cricketers India women One Day International cricketers India women Twenty20 International cricketers Karnataka women cricketers People from Chikkamagaluru Railways women cricketers Sportswomen from Karnataka Hobart Hurricanes (WBBL) cricketers IPL Supernovas cricketers IPL Velocity cricketers