Indrani Roy shares MS Dhoni’s advice after receiving her maiden call-up

After the South Africa Women tour of India in March 2021, Indian women’s team is all set to resume their international duties and will be traveling to England in June for a lone Test match followed by three One Day Internationals and as many T20 Internationals. Ahead of the highly-anticipated tour, on Friday, May 14, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced Indian squad for all the three formats.

One of the highlights of the squad was young wicketkeeper-batter Indrani Roy getting a maiden call to the Indian team and finding a place in the ODI and T20I team. Roy was rewarded for her brilliant run in the domestic circuit as she finished as the leading run-scorer in the Senior One-day Competition with a total of 456 runs under her belt.

Indrani hails from West Bengal, but a few years back she shifted her base to Jharkhand. The new place has helped Roy in her cricket career as she has become a mainstay of Jharkhand’s state team. The 23-year-old also got a chance to meet the former Indian captain and the legend of the game MS Dhoni during one of her training sessions in Ranchi.

In an interaction, the West Bengal-born revealed that she had a long conversation with MS and the veteran gave her a lot of valuable inputs regarding the game. Going into details about the conversation, she revealed that MS advised her to try and get better with her reflexes as that’s a key thing for any wicketkeeper.

Hard work has paid off: Indrani Roy

“During a training session in Ranchi sometime last year, I had a long conversation with Mahi Sir about how to improve my game and he had told me that I should ensure that I improve my reflexes and movement in the five-meter radius.

“For wicketkeepers, that’s a key thing and he advised me that I should try and get better. That actually helped me. Learning a thing or two from a legend like Mahi Sir is a privilege and his advice actually helped me improve my game. Every time I hit the ground, I try to remember his tips,” Indrani Roy told Sportstar.

Further, when asked about her feelings upon receiving maiden Indian call-up, the keeper exclaimed that she is happy that her hard work has paid off and is now looking forward to sharing the dressing room with some legends of the game.

“Hard work has paid off. I am looking forward to sharing the dressing room with the senior players and learning from them. This will be my first outing with the national team and if I get a chance in the final XI, I will try and do my best,” she concluded.