Vaishnavi Sharma does not talk much. She lets the ball do the talking. The left-arm spinner from Gwalior has gone from reading stars to writing history, and she is just getting started.
When planets pointed to the pitch
Dr. Narendra Sharma reads planets for a living. He holds a PhD in astrology. When his daughter was born, he made her kundali. It showed two paths – medicine or sport. He chose sport. The world would know her name, he told Sportstar in an exclusive conversation earlier this month.
Vaishnavi picked up bat and ball at age four. Father and daughter became a team. They trained at Tansen Cricket Academy, MPCA grounds, and Gwalior District Cricket Association. She made Madhya Pradesh’s U-16 side at eleven. When they hit a wall, they did what every Indian family does; they opened Google.
“We would quickly search how to tackle any difficulty and give her routines accordingly,” Narendra explained to Sportstar.
The world was not kind. Relatives questioned why a girl needed cricket. Narendra blocked the noise. Boy or girl did not matter. Only talent did.
The house that became runs
Sacrifice is a small word for big debts. Narendra worked on contract at a university. He quit twice to stay home with Vaishnavi. He put a bond on their house for ₹25 lakh to fund her cricket. COVID came. They sold the house. Today, the family lives in a rented place.
“I needed to be my daughter’s shadow,” he said. “That took precedence over everything.”
Tansen Academy and the MPCA ecosystem kept her cricket alive. The spinner kept turning the ball.
Five runs, five wickets
January 2024. Malaysia. ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup. Vaishnavi sat out the first game. She watched from the bench as India bowled out West Indies for 44.
Against Malaysia, she got her chance. She went to her room and visualised. Six wickets. A hat-trick. She nearly got it all. She took five wickets for five runs.
She got her first wicket in the eighth over. Captain Niki Prasad took the catch. Next over, she clean bowled Nuriman. Then she trapped two batters leg-before in two balls. The hat-trick ball cleaned up Nazwah around her legs.
It was the third hat-trick in tournament history. The best figures ever.
“I made sure that when I was on the field, I controlled my nerves and focused on my bowling,” she told reporters after the game.
Niki Prasad watched her for years. “She has done it for her team, for herself, for her fans and her family,” the captain said.
“Very special for all of us.”
Unsold, then selected
November 27, 2025. WPL auction. Base price ₹10 lakh. She was on everyone’s list, yet none of the teams picked her at the throwaway price. The gavel fell. Unsold.
“I was really gutted,” Vaishnavi admitted in her Sportstar interview.
Three days later, her phone rang. India senior team. Sri Lanka series. The call-up came faster than the rejection.
“So many players, coaches and seniors reached out,” she said. “I was over the moon.”
This was not luck. She took 21 wickets in nine matches in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy. She took 12 wickets in five matches in the Inter-Zonal T20. She was the leading wicket-taker in both tournaments for Madhya Pradesh and Central Zone. She helped MP win the state T20 trophy last season.
Harmanpreet Kaur knew the numbers. During the cap ceremony, She put her arm around Vaishnavi.
The quiet worker in Blue
Four T20Is against Sri Lanka. Vaishnavi has 4 wickets with Economy rate of 5.73. Best in the series. She is the highest wicket taker in the series as well.
In her debut on December 22, she gave 16 runs in four overs. Shree Charani dropped a catch at short fine leg. Hasini Perera got a reprieve. Vaishnavi walked back unlucky but unshaken.
She told the media she was nervous before the national anthem but calmed down after it played.
On Sunday (December 28), India made 221 for 2. Sri Lanka replied with 191 for 6. Vaishnavi bowled 4 overs and conceded just 24 runs. Took two wickets. In a high-scoring match, she was the quiet controller.
The team management trusts her. She has bowled the most overs in the series. The left-arm spinner from Gwalior, who learned from planets and Google, is now learning how to own the world stage.
Her father still reads horoscopes. His daughter is making her own fate.
