New Delhi, Dec 14 (IANS): Niki Prasad’s voice, brimming with joy and excitement, confidently conveyed the thrill of her captaining India in the inaugural U19 Women’s Asia Cup, ahead of their campaign beginning against Pakistan in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.

“To be honest, I’m feeling really happy. We just had a match against the South Africa team and we won the championship (by eight wickets in Pune) and that’s when the squad was announced. So, I’m like double happy right now and really excited to go out there and play the Asia Cup and win the Cup for India,” she said in an exclusive conversation with IANS.

Niki’s appointment as India U19 captain for the Asia Cup, following her unbeaten 49 and victory leading the India B team in the U19 tri-series in Pune, is a delightful moment for the right-handed batter who bowls off-spin.

In 2022, playing in the U19 quadrangular series in Visakhapatnam, Niki was in the reckoning to play for India in the inaugural U19 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa in January 2023. Unfortunately, she missed out on selection and saw Shafali Verma-led team win the title.

“Back then, when I was playing the selection matches and quadrangulars, I did think that I have a chance, as I was playing and giving my all. But when I didn’t make the cut and came back home and looked at the things I did right and what went wrong, that’s where I realised for me to get into the World Cup squad, I wasn’t up to the mark to be there.”

“I knew I had that kind of skill set and mindset back then, but I realised that now, next time, when I’m in such a situation, I would know what to do. It was the first time World Cup was there, and everyone, including me, was nervous. It was a very different vibe and very competitive back then,” she recalls.

Missing out on playing in the 2023 U19 World Cup instilled in Niki a steadfast resolve to rebound from this setback. The disappointment of missing the U19 World Cup was significant, but instead of dwelling on it, she redirected her energy into self-improvement and aiming to become the best cricketer possible.

“I don’t know how to explain that feeling, but I just knew that I need to work more harder. I don’t want anyone telling me that you couldn’t do this or that, and that’s why you’re not there. Soon after not getting selected, I went to play the U19 games for Karnataka.”

“Obviously, the mindset was a little off, because you knew that you could make it, but you couldn’t and I was sad and upset about it. But I made sure that this phase shouldn’t last for long. So the main reason why I’m here right now is what I did in the off-season.”

“My mom supported me throughout those two years. She made sure that I ate the right kind of food, did the right workout, and cricket skills training. I made my goals, routine and prepared everything for the next two years, in what I wanted to be,” she said.

Niki’s slow batting style was thought to have cost her a U19 World Cup spot last time, but this year’s change of approach has brought the desired results. From a very young age, Niki was highly spoken about as the next big thing, especially when she slog-swept Deepti Sharma and others for sixes during the Falcon Cup in Bengaluru in 2021.

Niki’s showings in the previous season of playing U19 and U23 tournaments for Karnataka ensured she still was in the mix to be a part of next World Cup batch. After attending a month-long U19 Women’s High-Performance Camp in Dharamshala, Niki captained India A to the 2024/25 Women’s U19 T20 Challenger Trophy title in Raipur.

In that tournament, she hit 162 runs in four matches to bag the Player of the Series award. Niki’s contributions as a top-order batter in the recent tri-series, where she amassed 149 runs, were instrumental in India B’s unbeaten run to the trophy.

“I started training really hard after that, and there was no looking back. I just made sure that now I’m going to work twice as hard, and I’m going to be an even better player because I know what I’m capable of. After that phase, I just made sure that I was the number one in everything.”

“Those two years, I worked really hard. Now, I’m truly happy for what I am right now over here. From here on, I just want to show what I can do and just keep growing and work more hard - that’s all I want to do,” she added.

Growing up in Bengaluru, Niki took interest in cricket as a six-year-old when she accompanied her brother to the playground, where he used to play cricket with the boys for fun. After telling her mother she wanted to play, Niki enrolled in a Youth Cricket Academy (whose name she doesn’t remember clearly) at the age of eight in 2015/16.

“The coaches and players over there already knew me because they used to see me going to the ground every day in the morning and just do some knocking with the leather balls. So, when I joined, they were really happy. They didn’t have to teach me a lot because I already knew a lot of things. Like I used to do nets, and some fielding with the under 10 and 12 boys.”

Niki would soon go for U16 trials as a nine-year-old and got selected for the probables after playing zonal selection games. Despite not making it to the Karnataka team, Niki received selection for a month-long KSCA off-season camp the next year.

She again attended the U16 trials and got into the team for the tournament held in Vizianagaram in 2017. After playing two years of U16 cricket and putting in the hard yards, Niki finally got into the Karnataka U19 team.

“My biggest supporter are basically my parents. They’ve always been there and supported me throughout the time I started and be what I am right now. I know of women who don’t get that kind of support from their parents. But my dad and especially my mom, she’s very supportive. She’s always supported me in my cricket and every decision I’ve taken in life,” she added.

Since 2018/19, Niki has trained at the Just Cricket Academy, under Nasiruddin and few more coaches. She also has a coach called Vinayak, who she has been training under or over two years now, and credits her for taking his game to the next level.

Niki’s usual practice routine is three days dedicated to batting, including some power training. For two days, she does batting and bowling practice on the turf pitches, while one day is just for fielding. She keeps her game sharp by playing matches throughout the off-season.

Her training also includes power-hitting, coming as a result of witnessing this trend in two WPL seasons. “I’ve seen women’s game grow a lot. They’ve become a lot stronger and everyone would just want to be those hitters, and big run scorers. So power hitting plays a very major role now, because if you train very well in that, and have good bat speed, and timing, you would score runs.”

“Obviously, you need to work on your mindset as well. But you need to have that power now, because just around three years ago, when I used to play for the state in U16, U19 and U23, I didn’t see many women’s players hit sixes. But now in every game, there are girls hitting six-seven sixers in a match.”

Niki drew much inspiration from fellow Bangalorean, Rahul Dravid’s cricketing style, throughout her childhood. Unsurprisingly, Niki has included Dravid’s jersey number, 19, in her Instagram handle. However, upon discovering women’s cricket, she found a new role model in fellow right-handed batter Mithali Raj.

“She’s one of the best players I’ve ever seen. I used to watch a lot of her matches, batting and game videos. I’ve also got an opportunity to play against her twice or thrice, and every time that I played against her, I always noticed what she kept doing.”

Niki, an off-spinner, strangely preferred watching leg-spinners like Shane Warne and Anil Kumble, a mystery she hasn’t solved. She loves playing the pull and lofted shots, while her favourite mode of getting a batter out is getting the ball to go through the gate and castle the batter.

Her favourite memory of playing a cricket match as a captain came in 2022, when Karnataka batted first against a really good Bengal side, but were bowled out for just 58. Thoughts began to run twice in the mind about not going to win the match in the Karnataka camp, till Niki told her team before stepping on the field that ‘we need to win from here and we need to look like we have come here to dominate’.

“That’s what happened - we defended the total and Bengal were bowled out for 52, and we won by seven runs. That’s one of my best memory as a captain leading the Karnataka side in my life, as we came out winning from nowhere.”

Despite cricket being Niki’s primary focus for the last two years, she finds time to play badminton with friends, relax with family, watch something, and study for her BBA in Sports Management at PES University.

Niki also credits women’s cricket talent scout Nisarg Naik, whom she met during the last U19 World Cup, for his guidance and support. “He is someone who’s watched my scores for last two years and told me that maybe you need to do this or that and score a little more runs. He’s a very nice human being, and now he’s getting me contracts and supporting me throughout.”

Sunday brings the WPL 2025 auction, featuring Niki among 120 players, alongside the senior team’s T20I series debut against the West Indies in Navi Mumbai. In between, Niki will step on the field in Kuala Lumpur as the captain of the India U19 team, standing as a testament to her ability to overcome obstacles and succeed. Indian cricket eagerly expects Niki to contribute hugely to India’s pursuit of winning the Asia Cup and successfully defending their World Cup crown in Malaysia in January 2025.