Diana Fram Edulji (born 26 January 1956) is a former Indian Test cricketer. Born in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

to a Parsi family, she was drawn to sports at an early age. She grew up playing

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 str ...

with a tennis ball in the railway colony where she lived. She then went on to play

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

and

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

at the junior national level, before migrating to cricket. At a cricket camp hosted by former Test cricketer Lala Amarnath, she honed her skills. At that time women's cricket was becoming more popular in India. Diana then went on to play for the Railways and then the Indian national cricket team where she was a successful slow left-arm orthodox bowler. She played her first series in 1975. In 1978 she was made the captain of the team. She remains the third highest wicket taker in Tests. In 1986 Edulji was refused entry to the

Lord's Pavilion The Lord's Pavilion is a cricket pavilion at Lord's Cricket Ground in London, England. Designed by Thomas Verity and built in 1889–1890, the pavilion has achieved Grade II* listed heritage designation. Like the rest of Lord's, the pavilion is ...

while captaining India on their tour of England. She quipped that the MCC (

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

) should change its name to MCP (" male chauvinist pigs"). Edulji was the first bowler to take 100 Women's Test wickets, but some of these Tests were later deemed unofficial. As per the official records, she took 63 Women's Test wickets, which is the highest by an Indian player, and the third highest of all-time, after Mary Duggan and Betty Wilson. She holds the record for delivering the most balls by any woman cricketer in Women's test history (5098+). She finished with 120 international wickets, which is the highest by a women's cricketer at the time of her retirement. Diana received India's then greatest sports honour award, the Arjuna Award in 1983. The Government of India awarded her the civilian honour of

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

in 2002. In the same year, she was felicitated by

Castrol Castrol is a British oil company that markets industrial and automotive lubricants, offering a wide range of oil, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications. The name ''Castrol'' was originally just the brand name for co ...

for her contribution to Indian women's cricket. She was the first Indian women's cricketer to be awarded a benefit match. She was appointed in BCCI administration panel by the Supreme Court of India on 30th January 2017. She became the first woman to be appointed to the BCCI selection panel.

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Diana EduljiSportslibro
Recipients of the Arjuna Award 1956 births Living people Indian women cricketers India women Test cricketers India women One Day International cricketers Railways women cricketers Mumbai women cricketers West Zone women cricketers Cricketers from Mumbai Indian cricket coaches Indian women cricket captains Sportswomen from Maharashtra Recipients of the Padma Shri in sports 20th-century Indian women 20th-century Indian people {{India-cricket-bio-1950s-stub Parsees cricketers Parsi people Parsi people from Mumbai

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