Story of cricketer Kesha Patel’s journey is not only inspiring but also reminiscent of the fact that if you do what you want to do, you achieve that goal in life. A young little girl playing between boys and from nowhere picking up the passion which was further fuelled at that time when she saw India winning the World Cup in 2011!
Kesha started picking up the sport even though at that time she was’nt aware abour Women’s Cricket. No wonder, she was the only girl practicing Cricket at Akota Football Stadium under Coach Fazal Mirza with whom she started learning the basics of Cricket. Looking at her talent, the Coach asked her to play and such was her fate within 3 months she was selected for Baroda Camp. Kesha performed well in camps and got selected for Baroda U19 team and from there it has been no looking back for her as she completes almost 10 years of professional cricket with Baroda Cricket Association currently representing Baroda Senior Team.
Kesha kept on performing at different levels and formats and her most memorable performances came out in U19 level itself when she took fifers vs South Zone and Cenrtal Zone leading the West Zone U19 Team from the front. Kesha also stamped her presence in Senior T20’s at Nagpur when she took 3/3 in 2 overs during death overs helping Baroda qualify in do or die finals. Her exploits were seen even vs Karnataka when her team Baroda was struggling at 25/4 and she came in smashing a crucial 46. Even in the Mohali Senior One Days Practice Match, Kesha showed her leadership skills smashing her first fifty at no.7 when her team was struggling at 75/7 vs Chandigarh! More recently she also took 5/21 vs Maharashtra which kept Baroda team on the lead.
In the last few seasons, Kesha has been a vital cog for Baroda Senior Team and her performances ensured she got noticed by none other Mumbai Indians for the 2023/24 season of Women’s Premier League. Kesha this year got an opportunity to interact with all the International players including her idol Yastika Bhatia, Nat Sciver and Indian Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur.
Kesha shared with Bombaynews.in “I am completely grateful for whatever has turned around in the last few years, it has been a great journey with Baroda Cricket Association and it’s a proud moment to be in Mumbai Indians making all of our Baroda proud! Playing alongside International Players and Coaches gave me a lot of learnings which will help me improve as a player. The ultimate goal now is to play for India and also give my best in whatever opportunities I get while representing Mumbai Indians.”
