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As a child, Renuka Singh Thakur was passionate about cricket and would play with the boys in her locality using a homemade wooden bat and balls made of cloth, her mother Sunita recalled. Sunita also mentioned that her late husband was an avid cricket enthusiast who wished for Renuka to excel in the sport. “An ardent cricket lover, my husband wanted that one of the kids should take sports — or Kabaddi — and even though he is not with us, my daughter has fulfilled his dreams, said Sunita was quoted as saying by PTI on Monday. “Renuka was always passionate about cricket and used to play the sport with boys since childhood. As a little girl, she used to make balls out of cloth and play with a wooden bat on the roadside.” Renuka, who comes from Parsa village in Rohru tehsil in Shimla district, played a significant role in the Indian team’s maiden World Cup title win. The celebrations began on Sunday with family members cheering as each South African wicket fell. On Monday, the Thakur family hosted a feast for the entire village to celebrate the World Cup victory. “Play for the country and not for you today and win the World Cup,” Sunita told her daughter on phone before Sunday’s final match, in which India beat South Africa by 52 runs in Navi Mumbai. “We are happy as our daughter has reached here today and we wish that all girls should go forward and pray to God to keep the youth away from drugs.” Renuka Singh Thakur’s Heartbreaking Story Renuka’s father, Kehar Singh Thakur, who worked in the state’s irrigation and public health department, passed away when she was just three. She played with a tattoo of her father’s name inscribed on her hand. “Kehar was so much into cricket that he named his first kid Vinod Thakur after Vinod Kambli, who along with Sachin Tendulkar was a star cricketer at the time when his son was born,” one of Sunita’s relatives said. Sunita shared that it was Renuka’s uncle who recognized her talent and introduced her to cricket. “My brother-in-law, Bhupinder Thakur saw Renuka’s talent and said that this girl has potential and it was with his support that Renuka got the opportunity to move forward,” she said. Renuka’s uncle was a physical education teacher at the time and he identified her talent and sent her to the Dharamshala cricket academy, where her career began. (With inputs from PTI)
