The Indian tour of South Africa at the beginning of 2018, is special for many cricketers. A lot of new cricketers were given opportunities, but the focus was all on Rumeli Dhar. One Bengal all-rounder replaced the other at the venue where she played the World Cup final in 2005. After playing her last international match in 2012, she took a month less than six years to make a comeback, and it was like she became invisible all these six years. There was no news about her, no media cared to look out for her. With the minimum response the Indian team used to get those days, it wasn’t surprising at all. But for those who know her, for those who watched her play, it was heartbreaking.
I’ve never seen a team player like her, someone super stubborn, someone who had the ability to adapt to any situation, any role.
She opened the bowling, batting both in the same match, a rare record. An excellent fielder, can keep wickets as well. She can bat for hours and comeback open the bowling along with Jhulan Goswami. She always wanted to be there for the team. Be it anyway. India’s fielding was not this great those days but she stood out, and catches do win matches, right?
But six freaking years, nobody literally cared about her. She had a major injury in her shoulders, ruled out, and was pushed to depression.
She did fight it all. From Railways, the most successful side in the domestic circuit she moved to Rajasthan and did help the girls to get the basics right. Three seasons there and Rajasthan did show some improvement in the game. After that, she moved to Assam, helped them out as well. Finally, she found moved to her second home, Delhi and there it was. She became the superpower and her all-round performance was too good to be ignored. Though the second stint was short, the fire she had to get back to the team was unbelievably inspiring and the stubbornness she had, to overcome depression and all other obstacles is surely a life lesson for every single domestic player out there who are waiting for their opportunity to get or get back into the team.
When I think of Dhar, the first thing that comes to my mind is her match-winning performances, her ability to create opportunities out of nothing.
India’s first ever T20I(men or women), Dhar helped India to defeat England by top-scoring unbeaten 60-odd runs in 2006. While playing in the middle-order, she did provide some excellent nerve breaking knocks. The Asia Cup in 2008 is probably my favourite. She was the player of the tournament, and I still remember her performance in the final against Sri Lanka. Dhar smashed 50 off 30-odd deliveries. A big deal especially those days. She also came back to pick two wickets. Another one was the third place play-offs in the world cup against Australia. Her tiny partnership with Jhulan that took us home still gives me goosebumps.
Thank You, Dhar, for proving us things will fall in places.
Thank You, Dhar for being such a team player, and winning us matches.
Thank You, Dhar, for showing us how to fight and what happens when you don’t give up.
Thank You, Dhar, for standing up to promote cricket.
Thank You, Dhar, for everything.
Just like how we failed to celebrate a lot of players, we failed to celebrate you. You definitely deserve a lot of credits and appreciation.
Happy Birthday, Rumeli Dhar. I love you. ❤️
