BARMER: Mumal Mehar, the 14-year-old girl in a Rajasthan village who is seen smashing sixes in a widely-circulated video clip that even earned praise from Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar on Twitter, said she used to watch Indian cricketer Suryakumar play and tries to take “long shots” like him
On Tuesday, she got her first cricket kit, a gift from Rajasthan’s Bharatiya Janata Party chief Satish Poonia who spoke to her on phone as the kit was delivered to her and later posted her photograph.
Sachin Tendulkar also posted a video of Mumal that she had received via WhatsApp. “Kal hi toh auction hua.. aur aaj match bhi shuru? Kya baat hai. (The auctions got over just yesterday and she is already playing ) Really enjoyed your batting”, Sachin said in a post on Twitter, referring to the Women’s Premier League auction.
A class eight student from Barmer’s Sherpura Kanasar village, Mumal Mehar said: “I used to watch the batting of Indian cricketer Suryakumar. Seeing him, I try to take long shots. I used to play for three to four hours daily. Roshan (Khan) Bhai helps us in practice. Recently I participated in Rural Olympics and played from Gram Panchayat level to district level. Unfortunately my team lost”.
She added that her cousin Anisa is the best cricketer of her village and used to give her tips. “Anisa and I have played together in the Rural Olympics. Whenever I get a chance, I play in the playground outside school. I love this game so much that despite family restrictions I played with the boys.”
According to Mehar, she started playing cricket with Anisa when she was 9 years old. Her interest rose when Anisa got selected in the Under 19 Rajasthan team.
Mehar has seven sisters and two brothers. Her uncle said she used to walk to school three kilometres away from her home. She is active on social media and has more than 12,000 followers.
Roshan Khan said he hoped that the attention on social media helps Mumal Mehar get some support from the government to improve her skills.