Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has taken Bihar cricket to greater heights after making headlines in the IPL and earning a call-up to the Indian team at the age of 15. From the Sooryavanshi family, his 10-year-old brother Aashirwad also grabbed attention by scoring 103 off 87 balls while representing Cricket Academy Tajpur in Samastipur.
While the spotlight has largely been on the Sooryavanshi family, another prodigy from Bihar has now emerged, this time in women’s cricket. 15-year-old Akshara Gupta has smashed a sensational triple century in the Bihar Women’s Under-19 One Day Trophy. Representing Raxaul, Akshara scored an unbeaten 306 off just 126 balls, an extraordinary knock decorated with 55 fours and 8 sixes.
Her performance has attracted attention across domestic cricket circles, especially as Bihar continues to produce promising young talent alongside names like Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Akshara’s innings is being viewed as a major breakthrough moment for Bihar women’s cricket, with selectors closely monitoring her rapid rise in age-group tournaments.
WHO IS AKSHARA GUPTA?
Akshara comes from a modest background and discovered cricket at the age of eight. In her small town, there were no formal coaching facilities, no academy, and no structured girls’ team. With guidance from her uncle, she began training on a simple backyard pitch, practising for nearly five hours every day with strong determination to improve.
Her father, Raj Kishore Shah, runs a chicken shop in Raxaul, while her mother, Reena Devi, is a homemaker. To support her passion, her father set up a practice net in their garden, allowing her to train regularly. Her mother ensured discipline in her routine, waking her up at 5 AM every day with a glass of milk before she went for her morning run. She grew up in a supportive family with two sisters and a brother.
Her cousin, Rishabh, a Bihar cricketer, was her early inspiration. Playing with boys in her neighbourhood helped her build confidence, and she regularly attended selection trials without fear.
2024 became a breakthrough year when she was selected for the Bihar Under-19 women’s team and soon after entrusted with captaincy at just 14. She also became the first female cricketer from Bihar to play all four BCCI age-group formats in a single season.
Last year, Mumbai’s young batter Ira Jadhav made headlines after producing one of the most extraordinary innings in Indian domestic cricket. Playing for Mumbai in the Women’s U-19 One Day Trophy against Meghalaya, she scored an unbeaten 346 runs off just 157 balls, an innings that included 42 fours and 16 sixes.
At just 14, Ira became the first Indian woman cricketer to score a triple century in limited-overs cricket, setting a new benchmark in youth cricket history. With Akshara’s rise on the domestic circuit, it reflects the growing depth of young talent coming through Indian women’s cricket.
As established stars like Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur continue to lead the way, India now appears to have a strong and expanding pipeline of emerging players who could carry the game forward in the years ahead.
– Ends
Source link
[ad_3]
