It was meant to be: Young India spinner Vaishnavi on cricket career
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New Delhi (PTI): It was written in the stars, or so believed her father.
Long before Vaishnavi Sharma picked up a cricket ball, she says her future as a sportsperson was known to her astrologer father, Narendra Sharma. The 20-year-old left-arm spinner from Gwalior made her India debut in the T20 International format just last year in a home series against Sri Lanka.
"When I was four years old, my journey in sports began. As you all know, my father is an astrologer. He looked at my horoscope and said that I should either go into sports or into the medical field," Vaishnavi told 'PTI Videos'.
"After that, it was a question of where my own interest was. After some time, he understood that my interest was in sports. When I was seven, I started playing more seriously, like going for evening practice sessions.
"And when I was 11–12 years old, I played my first Under-16 match for Madhya Pradesh. It wasn't under the BCCI then, but that’s where my journey really started," she recalled.
In the five-match series against Sri Lanka, she finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker for India with five scalps. The youngster says she has been certain about cricket from the very first day.
"When I started cricket, this was always my goal. I never focused on any other goal. Whenever I go to the ground, I just forget everything else, because the feeling I get after playing cricket, I don't get it from anything else," she said.
"I can't sit idle at home. Even if I'm doing my favourite things, when I have that love for cricket, I don't think about anything else," she added.
Her journey, however, hasn't been without disappointment. Vaishnavi admitted she had hoped to be picked by a franchise during the Women's Premier League auction before the Sri Lanka call-up but when it did not happen, she felt disappointed.
However, she ensured that it didn't affect her performance at a domestic age-group event.
"Of course, it feels very bad when you have expectations. I had them too, and I felt really bad. But I was playing a tournament at that time, so my whole focus was on my team. Under-23 was a big stage for me, so I kept my focus only on that," she said.
"Then I thought that I can only do what is in my hands and leave the rest to God. And when I left it to God, He gave me something even better."
Instead of dwelling on the setback, Vaishnavi focussed herself on domestic cricket, determined to control what she could.
"I never showed that disappointment on the field. I was sad in my room, I spoke to my family. My friends, parents, brother and seniors all called me.
"Yes, I was a little sad, but I never let that come onto the ground. I focused on what I had in my hands, and at that time, it was Under-23 cricket for Madhya Pradesh," she said.
A few weeks later, her perseverance paid off with a maiden India call-up and she said walking into a dressing room filled with World Cup winners was an emotional moment.
"I was very nervous. I was thinking, what will their reaction be, what will they say, how will I start the conversation? But when I reached there, everyone welcomed me warmly, spoke to me and made me feel very comfortable. I bonded really well with them," she said.
Despite now being teammates, Vaishnavi admits to being a fan of captain Harmanpreet Kaur.
"I will always have those butterflies that I am going to meet Harman di. They are big stars. I used to watch them on television and now I am playing with them. So the butterflies and excitement will always be there," she smiled.
Vaishnavi says she idolises Harmanpreet’s fighting spirit, while Smriti Mandhana inspires her approach to the game.
"Smriti di and Harman di are my role models. I once saw an interview of Smriti di where she said that even if she contributes for the team, she celebrates that day and then starts again from zero the next morning. From Harman di, I've learnt the never-give-up attitude," she said.
"The best thing about her is that whenever she gives me the ball, she says, 'Go and bowl freely, bowl your best and make the batter dance.' The whole team is very sweet."
On the bowling front, Vaishnavi draws inspiration from Ravindra Jadeja and Radha Yadav for their accuracy and control.
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Ballari violence: Were cops made scapegoats to cover political failure?
Bengaluru: Across Karnataka, a serious discussion has begun after the violence in Ballari and the swift action taken against police officers who were on the ground that day. The core question being asked is simple: when law and order fails, why are police officers the first to be shown the door, while political responsibility is quietly pushed aside?
The January 1 clash in Ballari was not a sudden street fight. It was a political confrontation involving supporters of two sitting MLAs. A banner related to the unveiling of a Valmiki statue became the flashpoint. What followed was stone-pelting, firing, and the death of a Congress worker. The situation spiralled within hours.
Within a day, Ballari SP Pavan Nejjur was suspended. Soon after, senior officers were reshuffled. Deputy Inspector General of Police Vartika Katiyar was transferred. No official reason was cited in the notification. But the timing made one thing clear: accountability, at least on paper, had been fixed.
Since then, there has been unease within police circles and political debate outside it.
Unconfirmed reports that Nejjur attempted suicide after his suspension were firmly denied by senior officers and the home minister. They said he was safe, resting, and under stress. Still, the very fact that such reports gained traction says something about the pressure officers feel when action is taken overnight, without public clarity.
Opposition leaders have called Nejjur a scapegoat, pointing out that he had taken charge only hours before the violence. They have asked how an officer can be blamed for a political clash he barely had time to assess. They have also drawn parallels with earlier incidents where police leadership was suspended after tragedies, while political decision-making remained untouched.
However, responding to this criticism, Home Minister G Parameshwara rejected the argument that the suspension was unfair because Nejjur had assumed charge only hours earlier. “It is not important whether he reported to duty on the same day (of incident) or one hour back. Duty is duty. He is not new to the department. IPS officers are trained to handle such situations any time. If he had acted swiftly and promptly, he could have prevented the situation from escalating.” He had said adding that Nejjur did not discharge his duties properly and that this was the reason for his suspension.
Now, fresh and unconfirmed reports suggest that Vartika Katiyar may have met a senior cabinet minister, questioning why she was made to pay the price for a situation that was political in nature. There is no official confirmation of this meeting. But the talk itself has added fuel to the debate.
What is being discussed in the state is not whether the police made mistakes. Many acknowledge that the situation on January 1 was mishandled. A clash earlier in the day was allowed to cool down without strong preventive action. Later, a banner came up near a politically sensitive location. The crowd should not have been allowed to build up. Better anticipation was needed.
At the same time, critics are asking whether the entire burden can be placed on officers when the trigger itself was political rivalry. Who installed the banner? Who mobilised supporters? Who had armed private gunmen present at the spot? These are questions that are still part of the investigation, yet administrative punishment moved faster than political accountability.
This has led to a wider comparison with past incidents, including the Bengaluru stampede after the RCB victory celebrations. There too, police officers were suspended after lives were lost, while decisions taken at higher levels were defended as unavoidable. Many are now saying Ballari fits into the same pattern.
The argument being made is not that the police are blameless. The argument is that responsibility appears to stop at the uniform. When things go wrong, officers are transferred or suspended to send a message. But when the violence is rooted in political rivalry, that message feels incomplete.
Within police ranks, there is also quiet concern about working conditions. Officers say they are expected to manage volatile political situations overnight, often with little room to push back against powerful interests. When things hold, they are invisible. When they collapse, they stand alone.
The Ballari episode has once again exposed this fault line.
For the government, the challenge is larger than one suspension or transfer. The real test is whether it is willing to publicly acknowledge political failures when law and order breaks down, instead of letting the system suggest that the police alone dropped the ball.
For now, what remains is a growing feeling across Karnataka that accountability is selective. And that whenever politics turns violent, the easiest answer is to change the officers, not the decisions that led to the violence in the first place.
