Shikha Pandey Interview: Indian pacer on WPL auction gains, India exile and finding strength

If you have followed Shikha Pandey’s career over the years, you know that introspection comes tightly woven with excellence for the pace bowling veteran.

A voracious reader and one of the most curious minds in the game, Shikha is constantly searching for things, anecdotes, moments, and people who can inspire her and widen her horizons as both a player and a person. Many of those thoughts and learnings found their way into a diary and, eventually, into a blog named  ‘Accidentally Cheeku’.

Her posts list several quotes and literary verses she draws strength from. But this one best epitomises Shikha’s spirit itself: Aut Viam Inventam Aut Faciam, Latin for “I shall either find a way or make one”.

Exiled from the national setup for reasons best known to those who chose to exclude her, the country’s strongest pacer, physically and tactically, was left to make her own way on the fringes.

After a summer in which she bowled an all-time great delivery to dismiss Alyssa Healy in a T20I at the Gold Coast in 2021, Shikha was stunningly dropped in the run-up to the 2022 ODI World Cup, where India failed to advance to the knockouts.

Selectors went back to her for the 2023 T20 World Cup, where the side fell to Australia in the semifinal. After a frustrating Schrödinger’s Cat-like situation, the national call-ups dried up, and a fast bowler once viewed as a bridge between the Jhulan Goswami era and a new generation of pace development suddenly vanished from the scene.

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Life of a cricket nomad

For Shikha, cricket is cricket, no matter the level at which it is played. She plunged into the life of a cricket nomad, playing in the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia, the Super Smash in New Zealand with the Canterbury Magicians, and the Women’s Caribbean Premier League. In the 2025 edition, she topped the wicket charts for Trinbago Knight Riders with five wickets in four games at an economy of 6.73. She was joint third overall.

Apart from her solid stewardship of the Goan women’s team in the past and for Baroda now in the domestic circuit, where Shikha consistently impressed with bat and ball, she is also the most successful Indian pacer in the WPL, taking 30 wickets in 27 games at an economy rate of 6.96 for the Delhi Capitals. Overall, Mumbai Indians’ Nat Sciver-Brunt tops the list with 32 scalps. The next best Indian quick is Arundhati Reddy with 14 wickets from 20 matches.

For anyone else, those numbers would be contract-clinching. But Shikha decided to attend trials ahead of the WPL 2026 Mega Auction, trying out for her native State’s franchise, the UP Warriorz.

“I had never attended a trial before, and I was excited about it, having heard so much from my Goa teammates. I would always ask players how their trials went. DC once held trials, and I asked Coach Jonathan Batty if I could participate and practise there since it was raining in Goa. I got to go to Bengaluru, it was just open nets then. I’ve never been on the receiving end, but I got a chance with UP Warriorz in Mumbai,” Shikha tells  Sportstar.

“A lot of people specifically say the first day of trials is bad, and I got to experience that. We had simulation games, and I was captain of my side on both days. Abhishek (Nayar) goes into so much detail. Sneh Rana was there too, and she’s just won the World Cup,” she adds.

The Warriorz clearly liked what they saw, given that they bid a hefty Rs. 2.4 crore for the medium pacer.

“She is an experienced player, and we wanted her experience of having played in high-pressure tournaments. Her numbers in the WPL are the best among Indian pace bowlers in the last three years, be it in the powerplay or death overs. We wanted experience in those aspects,” head coach Nayar explained.

“I wasn’t following the auction too intensely, but I had to when my mom spotted my name. I genuinely don’t care about price tags; people won’t believe it. I am just happy that I am valued and that there was a bidding war for my services between RCB and UP,” she remembers.

It helps that Shikha is also a solid bat. In the domestic circuit, she is known for her grind in the middle. Internationally, too, she has been part of several crucial batting efforts since the early 2010s.

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“I love batting. For my State, I would bat at four, middle order. Unless you’re, I guess, Jasprit Bumrah, it would be hard for someone in this age to be a pure bowler and survive. W.V. Raman sir always used to say that the runs bowlers get you are the ones that will win you games. If I am just a bowler, someone else who can contribute 15+ runs more than I can will get importance. It’s not sad, it’s how competitive cricket has rightly gotten.”

At the Delhi Capitals in particular, Shikha had the pick of some of the world’s best to bounce ideas off, from Meg Lanning, who will join her at the Warriorz, and Annabel Sutherland, to Jemimah Rodrigues.

“As a bowler, it’s really nice to understand what the batter is thinking. In the nets, you bowl and get feedback about whether they could see my slower ball coming out of my hand, or if they were able to counter me easily. Helped me go back and work on tweaks. Having such solid batting stock to bowl to in the nets makes you a better bowler tactically.

Thinking like a batter will help in the long run because you’re anticipating outcomes from their perspective and guarding against them. Maybe that’s why Shafali Verma could come in and take those two wickets in the World Cup final (laughs).”

The joy of cricket in whatever form

Nothing compares to donning the India blue for Shikha, who is also a retired squadron leader in the Indian Air Force. But the joy of playing and consuming the game is the same, no matter the level . In a sense, that cushioned her World Cup-watching experience as India ticked off one of her biggest career ambitions: winning the World Cup.

“It hurts that you don’t make the team. And sometimes it is even difficult to watch the games. But then, we need to realise that the situations that we are put in are not in our hands, but our reactions to them are.” This is something a longstanding mentorship with Australian legend Belinda Clark taught Shikha.

Shikha Pandey with Marizanne Kapp in the Women’s Premier League
| Photo Credit:
MURALI KUMAR K

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Shikha’s struggles were not all internal. Her parents and sister also witnessed the uncertainties and mental toll of rejection.

“Three years ago, my sister Vibha, who works for Oracle as a project lead, told me she would be supportive if I decided to walk away. She said, ‘You’re good enough, you’ll get a job anywhere based on your academics (Shikha is an engineering graduate). She still asks me why I continue to play this game. This is from someone who is the reason I am still playing this sport.”

A network that matches her never-say-die attitude has played a major role in keeping her going. She credits her family, coach Nitin Vernekar, former India team physio Tracy Fernandes and Naresh Ramadoss (who run a High-Performance athlete-centred fitness centre called  Athleap in Goa) and Nasiruddin Thameesdeen and Nooruddin S. at Just Cricket in Karnataka where she regularly trains) among others for keeping her afloat, giving her more than just shoulders to cry on. Her network has facilitated training spaces, cricketing help, and moral support in a growingly cut-throat world.

Her own interest in the science behind an athlete’s life has also been crucial.

“As a science graduate, I was also interested in ways to train better. I bought  Whoop (a performance-tracking app) in 2022, when few had it. I have a  Garmin (sports wearable) when training. I have always been interested in metrics. Once I got a niggle and went back and checked the data about my left leg’s contact point and whatnot. Tracy ma’am had to stop me sternly.

“I carry my own compression boots. I know I am not a 16-year-old anymore. I am blessed. Despite not being in the national setup, I have the resources to have a nutritionist – Tenzin.”

“W.V. Raman sir always used to say that the runs bowlers get you are the ones that will win you games.”
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu Photo Library

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Ray of hope

A World Cup win, Shikha hopes, will bring those systemic changes.

“The (wish) list is so long. For starters, proper domestic contracts for cricketers, not exaggerated amounts, but just start somewhere if a woman cricketer needs a good kit, a nutritionist, and other support. That’s why WPL comes. If you have more teams added, a lot more domestic players will get in. For long, we’ve had one solid employer in the women’s game (Railways), so those avenues need to improve for players.”

She also credits the BCCI’s age-group tournaments for being the stepping stone the women’s game long needed.

“I’ve had teammates who left the ecosystem after the Under-19 level because they weren’t good enough to make the senior level yet. Now you have the U-23 tier, there’s the U-16s as well. Whole batches of players were wiped out because such levels didn’t exist before. There’s so much more to be done. The media attention that’s come post the win might help push all this along.”

All about the inside

Time away from the main stage has also prompted a rethink of how she interacts with spaces like social media.

The blog has not been updated since 2021, something Shikha intends to change, but other networking apps have taught her a certain indifference that mirrors how she deals with naysayers in real life.

“I remember in 2022, when I had a very good season, I put up videos. I did that for myself because I was really happy with my performance. Now you hear people say, if you’re good, put your videos on social media so someone sees and gives you an opportunity. I am so glad we’re at a place where that’s not the only option. Franchise scouts are everywhere, watching everything.”

The same social media has also told her to go back to the kitchen after a bad day in the field.

“It’s nothing new. I have simply said once that I am heading back to the kitchen to make dinner. The trolls haven’t changed. My response to them has. Even recently, I am from UP. We are from Purvanchal, and we speak Bhojpuri. When I got into UP Warriorz, my mum had an idea to write something in  Bhojpuri, being the local team and all. Then came the comments questioning that choice, demanding a caption in Awadhi and stuff. I, in the past, would have restricted comments. Now I’ve just muted the conversation. It’s my post. I wanted to be happy about my native language. But there’s always someone ready to fight over everything.”

Shikha has enough of those battles playing out inside to spend time on anything else. For her, a video her sister put together of all her good balls was a life-changer.

“In 2021, the Australia tour was very difficult. I kept playing that video, a short one of about 50 seconds, about 50 times between the hotel and the stadium. When things aren’t going well, visualisation helps, and that video was really helpful.”

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Crossing the line

After several near misses, coming close to glory and falling short, Shikha hopes the cricketing gods have another script for her.

“Losing is difficult. If you don’t have control over your mind, you’ll go hunting for negatives. I always want to get better and help the team win. If we do win, I don’t know how winning would feel. Maybe you feel good for a day or two, and then it becomes about the bigger picture. It will be a good story for you to write, but the bigger win is if one kid from UP, or anywhere for that matter, watches the game, a girl, and takes up the sport. That is why we play.”

At 36, Shikha is not stopping anytime soon but knows she is closer to the finish line than she has ever been. There were many things she could have been and many more accolades and records she could have amassed if life had gone another way, but for her, being known as a good teammate trumps it all.

“I don’t think I’d remember my teammates for the 100s they’ve scored or the fifers they’ve taken. I will remember those who were there for me, as a shoulder to cry on. I am not a gifted athlete; I am a hard worker, probably the hardest. It’s something I take pride in. I want to keep at that and be a good teammate and human.

“After the auction, I got a warm note from Kappie (Marizanne Kapp). She’s a legend. That’s more valuable than any price tag in the world!”

Published on Dec 05, 2025