Nagma will always remember the date January 7, 2019. The then 15-year-old woke up to a delightful message informing her that she had been selected for the Under-16 State girls¡¯ cricket team.
¡°It was like a dream come true. I had been working really hard for this day to come. I used to play zonal matches earlier and I wanted to represent the Under-16 state cricket team. I made it and I¡¯m so glad,¡± she said.
Nagma¡¯s story is no ordinary story of hard work paying off. When Rahman Sharieff, Nagma¡¯s father who is an auto driver realised his daughter¡¯s passion for cricket, he enrolled her in the Karnataka Institute of Cricket (KIOC) and from then on, this fast bowler has toiled hard to finally get a berth in the Under-16 team.
Now at 16, she is considered to be the next pace queen of India. A new Jhulan Goswami in the making.
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Irfan Sait, the owner of KIOC, was also instrumental in helping Nagma achieve her dream. Along with Nagma, Rahman Sharieff enrolled his two other children in the Institute and Sait, noticing their talent, agreed to give them free coaching.
Nagma says she picked up her cricketing skills by watching her brothers play before she took to the game and slowly made a mark. Now she¡¯s far ahead of them.
A delighted owner and coach of KIOC, Irfan Sait had a lot of appreciation for Nagma. ¡°She is a hard working, and an extremely talented girl. She¡¯s a fast bowler and has been doing very well. With her talent, she has the potential to get into the Indian women¡¯s cricket team very soon. I¡¯m sure she will, if she continues to work hard. I look forward to seeing her play for the state team too.¡±
Sharieff disclosed that Nagma doesn¡¯t miss out a single day¡¯s practice and she even practices at home. ¡°Nagma is very dedicated. After she finishes practising at the academy, she goes back home, rests for an hour and starts her batting and bowling drills outside her house with her brothers. She even goes running and walks to build stamina. She has started to eat healthy and manages her diet by herself,¡± said Sharieff.
Irfan Sait recalls a time when he watched Nagma play against a team which had come from England and he knew immediately that she had what it takes to make it big. ¡°Even before Nagma got selected for the U-16 team, she played in a match with an England team. She was fabulous.
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The England team was speechless looking at her play. She took wickets and did not give away any runs. She also batted well in that match. The England team had a lot of praise for her,¡± said Sait.
Nagma is now in Pondicherry and from January 11 she will start playing 30-over matches. ¡°We have had some of the practise matches and Nagma is playing very well. She¡¯s a great bowler. Among the 90 girls we had to selected, 15 of them to play for the state team and Nagma is one of the 15. When she¡¯s practicing, she either takes wickets or bowls maiden overs. I¡¯m looking forward to her playing in the state team, ¡± said Lakshmi Hariharan, Under-16 state girls¡¯ coach.
Sharieff was also very thankful to Bangalore Mirror for writing about his efforts to encourage his children¡¯s passion for cricket. ¡°We are from a poor background. I had no hopes that anyone could help us. But after BM did a story on us, I received lot of financial support from many people. Earlier my kids used to share one cricket kit between all three of them. Now they have three different kits. We are very grateful to Bangalore Mirror. I hope and wish Fazulla and Rizwan also do well like Nagma and get selected to the state team,¡± said Sharieff.
Nagma wishes to keep doing her best like she is now and get selected for the Indian team. She wants to be the fastest bowler in the country.