A year into her international career, young left-arm spinner Shree Charani has already climbed to the top of the ICC T20I bowling rankings. But despite becoming the world’s No. 1 T20I bowler and India’s most successful bowler in a single edition of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, the 21-year-old said her sole focus remains helping the team lift the trophy rather than chasing individual glory.
On Thursday, Charani went past Poonam Yadav’s previous record of 10 wickets set in the 2020 edition, to become the highest wicket-taker for India in a single edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup during the five-wicket win over Bangladesh at Old Trafford.
Despite the achievement, the youngster insisted she is not paying attention to individual honours.
“To be honest, right now my focus is completely on the World Cup. We are in the middle of the tournament, and that is all that matters to me. I’m not thinking about being the number one-ranked T20I bowler or any individual rankings.
“Those things are nice to have, but they are not my priority at the moment. I just want to focus on my bowling, stick to my plans, perform well for the team and win the World Cup. If I keep doing that, everything else will take care of itself,” Charani said.
Looking back at her performance against Bangladesh when she took two wickets in the final over of the innings to restrict the opponents to a meagre 136/8, Charani said she kept her approach simple and relied on the conditions.
“I just kept things simple; I didn’t try to do anything extra and focused on what I had practised. My line, length, and variations and I knew that if I kept hitting the right areas, the wickets would come. The pitch had a little bit of help, so I just stuck to my strengths and let the ball do the rest,” she said.
India’s fielders dropped Bangladesh opener Juairiya Ferdous three times during her innings of 33, but Charani said such moments are part of the game and never affected her mindset.
“I didn’t get frustrated by the catches dropped off my bowling. Dropped catches are part of the game. It happens to every bowler at some point. You can’t control what happens after the ball leaves your hand.
“All you can do is keep bowling in the right areas and trust your teammates. I don’t let it affect my focus. I believe that if you keep doing the right things, the rewards will come. At the end of the day, whatever is written for me, it will come,” she added.
India now head into a crucial final Group A clash against Australia, with a place in the semifinals at stake. Charani said the team will not change its approach despite the importance of the contest.
“Yes, the Australia game is going to be an important one. We want to win and finish on top of the group stage. But we are not going to treat it any differently. We are going to keep things simple.
“There’s no need to overthink. We have played against them before, and we know what to expect. It’s about executing our skills on the day. One game at a time. That has been our approach throughout this tournament, and we will continue with the same mindset,” she added.