Tennis player turned cricketer Sai Bhoyar played for Arunachal Pradesh this season as a guest player in both women one-dayers and T-20 tournaments. Now she is eyeing a place in Vidarbha team which has been performing well in the last few years.
Just one year back, Sai shunned tennis racquet and picked up cricket bat for various reasons. For Arunachal, she played seven one-dayers and equal number of T-20 matches. Although the north eastern side failed to win any match, Sai got a lot of exposure playing against some top teams. Sai, a student of Law College, told Lokmat Times, “My dream is to play for Vidarbha. I had appeared in VCA trials also. I want to enhance my performance so I can earn a place in Vidarbha squad,” she said.
About her stint with Arunachal Pradesh, Sai said, “Although we failed to win any matches, I played a lot of matches in one-day and T-20 format. My performance was good against Delhi and Haryana in one-dayers and against Jammu & Kashmir in T-20 matches. Personally, I am not much satisfied with my performance. In future I will try to do better,” she said.
Sai regrets Arunachal lacks professional players and practice facilities. “Girls are good but are not professional. Secondly, there is no facility for round-the-year practice. Let's see what happen next season but my priority would always be Vidarbha,” she said.
To enhance her skills, Sai practices every day for three hours in the nets at Vasant Nagar ground under the guidance of her father and in evening spends two and half hours in the gym.
Covid, ailment made her opt for cricket
Lack of tennis activities during Covid lockdown and an ailment forced Sai to opt for cricket. In 2020 and 2021 there were absolutely no tennis activities across India due to lockdown. Secondly, she suffered from vertigo. The Covid-19 lockdown in March, 2020, gave Sai time to recuperate but the ailment struck again during the India camp in Delhi which she had to leave mid-way. Sai then decided to switch the sport.