I've gone through a rollercoaster of a ride – Shreyanka Patil after her first fifer in WPL

Shreyanka Patil’s herculean comeback has been nothing short of a wonder story. Injured twice in the last one year, Patil had to show insane mental strength apart from overcoming her physical stress to come back to the mould. RCB believed in her and decided to retain her for the latest season. The rewards are now being reaped as she dropped a five-star masterclass to derail Gujarat Giants in their latest clash.

Talking at the post-match presentation, Shreyanka Patil revealed the journey that she undertook and how hard it was for her to come back to the cricketing yards. She also made it clear that she is inclined towards taking wickets and that is exactly what her role is instead of being tagged as an attacking or a defensive bowler.

Shedding light on the beastly journey that she undertook to arrive at this juncture, Shreyanka said, “I'm very, very happy that I got my first fifer in WPL. I mean, I've gone through a rollercoaster of a ride personally for me. I think I have dealt in with it. I came out of it in a very strong way. I would say I think credit goes to my support system. My coach is here, my grandparents are here and my uncle, aunt are also here supporting. My sister also is here, she left her job and she came all the way from Bangalore to watch me.”

She further added, “So I'm very happy and just that the fact that I was out of cricket for 14 months was a big blow for me because I am someone who can't sit quietly. I want to be on the field. I want to be on the cricket field. Do what I love doing. So yeah, I'm very happy with the preparation I got the last month as well with Arjun sir back in Bangalore. I think I've put in a lot of hard work the last couple of months and I'm very happy that my execution is falling in place right now.”

Explaining her role as a wicket-taker, Shreyanka added, “I think... I am a wicket-taker bowler. I've always said that because the drift I get, the turn I get and the bounce I get is something I've not seen much. I'm giving a lot of credit to myself. I don't know why. But yeah, I think I've worked towards it. I just didn't want to be a containing bowler.”

She continued, “I wanted to be a wicket-taking bowler and be that impactful bowler for the team in any given situation, be it the powerplay, be it the middle-overs or the death because I've prepared so well in any given phase of the game. I know that I'm looking to get wickets. So yeah, again, going back to practice, the scenarios I have played, the match-based scenarios, bowling against boys, getting hit, learning from them. I mean, it's just a whole lot of hard work.”

Talking about how she plans an over, Shrey added, “I kept it pretty simple even Anya and Malo sir kept saying that just keep things simple because your stock ball is the best ball on this wicket. If there is some turn or little slower, this is your kind of a wicket. So I kept things simple, got those arm-balls going and just bowled a lot of off-spinners today because high percentage on this wicket... I think my stock ball played a huge role.”

She concluded by saying, “And obviously bowling to left-handers is a big advantage, advantage being an off-spinner and Smriti kept saying that you have to get all the lefties out in the tournament. That's your objective. No pressure. So yeah, that's what we keep talking and I've got a lovely support system here as well. So yeah.”