Pride & promise: The story of Bhagya & Arundhati

The journey of India all-rounder, who is set to play her first ODI World Cup, is as much as her mother’s as it is hers. Gomesh S tries to chronicle the Reddy family’s tale in the lead-up to the global event

- 

THAT... It was very difficult for her to convince me," says Bhagya Reddy after a brief pause and a wry laugh. She is sitting in the living room of her family's dream house on a breezy Thursday evening in Hyderabad, trying to recall one of the pivotal life decisions her daughter and India all-rounder Arundhati Reddy had to make two years ago.

The 2022-23 season was over, and Arundhati had been a part of the Delhi Capitals team that reached the inaugural Women's Premier League final. She had not played for India in almost two years and was not getting regular chances at her domestic team Railways. At 26, Arundhati found herself at a crossroads with regard to her career and what lies ahead. That is when she decided to take a leap of faith; to resign from her Railways job one that had been crucial to not just her career but also her financial stability and that of her family- and switch teams in the domestic circuit.

Having confided in her brother Rohit, who was getting married in a few months, Arundhati couldn't bring it up with Bhagya.

"She was suffering within herself," Bhagya recalls.

"Then, Rohit called me up. He said, 'Amma, I want to talk to you. When you're cool and free, just let me know. This is regarding Shammu (Arundhati's nickname)'. I said, 'What? You first let me know. You're making me panic'. Then he explained, 'It seems she wants to resign, but only if you say yes'.

But as a mother, no parent ever thinks that their child is resigning from a government job and taking up cricket full-time (is good) because you don't know where it takes you. Then he added her to the call.

"The way she was crying... (Bhagya pauses). She said, Amma, just give me one chance so that in life I will never regret that I have not tried. I promise you, Ma, I will never let you down, just give me one chance.