A fairytale comeback to the Indian team for Sneh Rana

Every cricketer dreams of hearing the "India India" chants while they are out in the middle. Well, dreams do come true and a never-give-up attitude always fetches you success and happiness.

A fairytale comeback for Sneh Rana after 5 years was always going to mean the world to her and her family. However, she was denied the chance to celebrate her dream comeback with her father after his untimely demise a month before she earned her return to national colours.

Speaking of her comeback to the national team and what it meant to her, Rana had the following to say:

"It was a great moment for my family and me, I cannot even describe it in words. I was waiting for this moment for many years (Bahot achi feeling thi, kaafi saalon se wait kiya). It was very emotional as well, as my dad expired 1 month ago and it was his dream to see me don the colors again for India, but unfortunately, he left us before it happened. I’m sure he must be happy wherever he is. Everyone was still recovering from the shock of my father when I got this call about the Indian team selection, that moment was so emotional that I didn’t know how to react at that time, I was completely blank."

It has been a tough ride for Rana after she was dropped from the Indian team and then the Railways side in 2016. She almost gave up. To add to her agony, she suffered a bad knee injury and had to undergo surgery.

"I was sidelined because of knee injury, many people criticized me and I did a surgery. I lost a year, it was very difficult. It is difficult for any sportsperson to be away from a sport for a year. I feel I changed mentally and became more tough when I got dropped from Railways and the Indian team. So, it was always on my mind to make a comeback."

After the injury, she was even more determined to make a comeback for Railways and the Indian team. She knew she had to become mentally and physically strong once again.

Fast forward four years. A former Railways captain, Rana led the India B side in the Quadrangular T20 Series in Patna in January 2020 that also featured India A, Bangladesh and Thailand.

In that series, she picked up four wickets with India B finishing runners-up. However, she was still some way from emerging as a frontrunner to make the squad.

Sneh Rana led Railways to back-to-back titles

Sneh Rana leading Indian Railways to their 12th title in the Senior Women's One Day Trophy

Rana returned to the Indian side on the back of her performance in the 50-over domestic tournament earlier this year. She topped the wicket charts for Railways, led by Mithali Raj, India's Test and ODI captain, with 18 strikes at an average of 12.66.

With the bat, her 160 runs at a strike rate of 123.07 in the middle order were also pivotal to Railways' victorious campaign. Her unbeaten 34 and 3 for 33 in the final handed them a 12th title in the competition.

Railways is the team to beat at the domestic level in India and leading a team with current and former India players can be a bit tricky.

"Honestly, I never expected that I will get the captaincy of such a big team like Indian Railways but when I took the responsibility it was a proud moment for me to lead a team like Indian Railways. In a team like this there are a lot of seniors who are more experienced than you so it becomes challenging automatically to lead them."

"It was always going to be tough in terms of performance alongside to handle the team as well. But for me the plus point was that everyone supported me a lot. Usually with seniors being in the side it can get a bit tricky, but they all encouraged me and made things a little easy to handle."

Rana thanked former India player Nooshin Al Khadeer, also the coach of the Railways team, for showing immense trust and in her ability to lead the team to victory in 2 consecutive seasons (one-day matches).

Taking over from the inspirational Mithali Raj, Rana suggested she had learned a lot from the former's captaincy, while also adding that she is the greatest batswoman of all time.

Before leaving for England, she made her excitement for the Test known, calling it the 'Asli Test'. Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda ahead of India's tour of England, Rana had the following to say:

"I am looking forward for the test series where patience is tested. It is a great platform where you can experiment anything. I have got this opportunity after 5 years and I want to make full use of this opportunity."

And boy, did she make the most of this opportunity! Living her dream of playing in the whites for her national team, Rana's gritty innings on the final day made waves across both social and mainstream media.

Here was the Indian team with five debutants, playing their first Test in seven years, up against a far more experienced host. The visitors were staring at defeat at one point, following on and just 75 runs ahead; only two wickets in hand and plenty of overs to bat out with two debutants at the crease.

The debutants in question - Rana and Taniya Bhatia - though, were in no mood to oblige. They blunted, tormented and attacked the formidable England line-up as they stayed firm for more than 30 overs. Their unbroken 104-run stand for the ninth wicket gave India a draw that captured the imagination of cricket lovers across the nation.

Well, her dream run did not end there. In the ODI series, the Railways all-rounder picked up two wickets in two games, conceding runs at an economy rate of 4.35. Rana also played a key role in India's only win, following up her 7-0-31-1 with a 22-ball 24 in a tight run-chase. Her half-century stand for the sixth wicket with skipper Raj took India home in a last-ball finish.

After the series, coach Ramesh Powar said, "Sneh Rana is the find of this series. The way she was bowling in the practice sessions in Southampton [India's base prior to the start of the tour], we thought we should give her a chance. It was a difficult decision to play two off-spinners [Deepti Sharma is the other], but she has played her role to the core."

Rana has the match temperament for the big games, which impressed Ramesh Powar. He added: "She is someone who can play in crunch situations, and that is what we need right now. When the big tournaments and the big series come up, we need players of calibre, who can take pressure."

Rana was very confident that she knew her game inside out. The team showed a lot of confidence in her as a seasoned campaigner on the domestic circuit.

"We had a team meeting where I was told I would be making my debut. During the practice sessions, the captain and coach had been guiding me regarding what kind of deliveries I should be bowling given we were playing Test cricket [after nearly seven years] and I had no prior experience in this format, which is vastly different to one-dayers and T20s. I had conversations with both of them every day heading into this match."

Is she the finisher India is looking for? Just coming into the side after a gap of 5 years and performing like this speaks volumes of the player she has become in her time away.

India needs more of such talent, and a little more experience to the middle order will solve the woes of India's middle order. Veda Krishnamurthy would be a perfect fit along with Rana, with the kind of game and match temperament she has. It would add more value to the Indian side given that the ICC World Cup isn't very far away.

There was turmoil caused by the pandemic. It has ruined and disrupted the careers of a lot of young and senior women cricketers who are looking for some light at the end of the tunnel.

In light of helping these cricketers restart their careers, the 27-year-old Rana feels that the BCCI should provide contracts to domestic players in order to give them a head start to their cricketing journey.

Rana signed off with an encouraging message for all the potential cricketers looking to make their name by playing for the country in the future.

"A lot of people think that who've played for India but been out of the national side for a while, will find it very difficult to play international cricket again, especially in women's cricket," she said. "I feel that my journey may have inspired some of them. In my view, one should never give up. Hardwork is the key and you will definitely get the result for it one day. Earlier we used to only read in books that 'Hardwork is the key to success' but it feels great when it actually happens to you.”

Sneh Rana is expected to turn out for India again when the Women in Blue tour Australia later in the year. Mithali Raj will lead her team out in three ODIs and a one-off pink-ball Test before Harmanpreet Kaur takes over the reins for three T20Is.