Poonam Yadav opens up about her difficult journey to the summit of women's cricket

India's star spinner Poonam Yadav has opened up about her difficult journey to the summit of women's cricket, stating that it was her ability to challenge her critics that helped her improve her game.

The 28-year-old, who was initially considered an incompetent bowler in limited-overs matches, is now the only bowler from the Indian women’s cricket team who holds a place in ICC Rankings' Top 10 in both the ODI and the T20I format.

She also became the leading wicket-taker in T20Is in the last two years and is the only Indian who was named in the official ICC T20 World Cup XI earlier this year.

In a Facebook live session with The Indian Express, Poonam Yadav spoke about the challenges she faced on her way to becoming India's X-factor in limited-overs cricket. She said:

"Whatever people told me I couldn’t do, I took it as a challenge. People said I couldn’t be a limited-overs bowler. My only motto is to bowl dot balls. That is what I keep working on. I train for foreign tours by bowling to U-19 boys and girls. I tell them to try and hit every ball I bowl."

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Poonam Yadav's T20 World Cup

Poonam Yadav enjoyed fantastic form at the 2020 Women's T20 World Cup. She was the second-most prolific bowler in the tournament and ultimately finished with 10 wickets from 5 matches.

The Agra-born star put up a spectacular performance against Australia during the opening game and picked up figures of 4-19. She did not stop there as she bagged three wickets against Bangladesh before registering wickets in every match.

However, she saw a drop in form as India lost to Australia in the final, picking up just one wicket and giving away 30 runs in four overs.

Speaking of the T20 World Cup, Poonam Yadav said:

"I had just made a comeback from injury before the World Cup. I was in some dread as to if I would be able to perform on such a big stage. But seeing the faith shown in me by the captain, the selectors, I thought I would have to work my socks off."