Ahmedabad: The only Indian-origin player in the touring Australian women’s cricket team has written an autobiography, which traces her journey from a Pune orphanage.
Lisa Sthalekar, 32, who has been playing for Australia since 2001, recently released her autobiography ‘Shaker’.
An all-rounder with 2,540 runs and 131 wickets from 111 One-Day Internationals (ODIs) to her credit, Sthalekar has been a valuable player for her team, and was instrumental in the recent series win against New Zealand.
“It was a two and half years’ project of writing an autobiography. I thoroughly enjoyed it and learnt a lot about myself,” Sthalekar told reporters here on Thursday. “It is an emotional journey that I have gone through, all the highs and lows of my life. It tells a good story of how I was adopted in Pune, and now I am playing for my adopted country, Australia,” she said.
Sthalekar was adopted from an orphanage in Pune when she was very young by an Indian father and English mother, who have now settled Down Under.
“From Pune to Australia … I am very fortunate for a supportive family which allowed me to do what I wanted,” said Sthalekar, who was Women’s International Cricketer of the Year for Australia in 2007.
She enjoys coming to India and has nostalgic memories about her childhood when she used to visit her grandmother in Pune.
“I have plenty of memories. From eating food, drinking Goldspot, playing carrom, flying kites, and eating Paan.”
Sthalekar, who plays for New South Wales in domestic cricket, is a hard-hitting batter who bowls off-spin as well.
While growing up, she loved Michael Slater and Adam Gilchrist, but now her favourite cricketer is Sachin Tendulkar.
“Like he (Tendulkar) stops the nation here, same is the case in Australia when he plays there,” she said.
“We are very disappointed that Sachin did not get his 100th century in Australia.”
Sthalekar believes that the women’s cricket has changed dramatically over the years.
“When I first came into the game, 180 runs was considered a good score which could be defended. Nowadays, integration has played a huge role. In fact, we are playing under better facility, resources and have access to good coaches. All of a sudden, score of 250-260 has become more achievable,” she said. (PTI)
