Veda Krishnamurthy (born 16 October 1992) is an Indian cricketer. She made her debut in international cricket at the age of 18 in a

one day international One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(ODI) against England Women at

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

on 30 June 2011. Krishnamurthy went on to score 51 runs on her ODI international debut. She is a right-handed batter and bowls right-arm legbreak.

Early life

The youngest of four siblings in her family, Veda started playing street cricket when she was 3. As a young girl, she was enrolled for karate classes which she hated. However, she credits the martial arts form for building her strength from a young age. Veda even earned a black belt in karate at the age of 12. Her mother Cheluvamaba Devi and her elder sister Vatsala Shivakumar succumbed to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in 2021. She started her formal cricket training in the Karnataka Institute of Cricket in 2005 when she was 13. Realising her talent, the institute's director Irfan Sait urged Veda's father to shift her to Bengaluru to further hone her skills. The youngest daughter of a cable operator, her father moved from a small town in Karnataka's Kaduru to

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

to help realise his daughter's dream of playing for the country one day. She was initially trained at Karnataka Institute of Cricket at Bengaluru. Veda credits Irfan Sait as her first coach, who taught her the basics of the game. Coaches like Apurva Sharma and Suman Sharma also played a significant role in moulding her as a cricketer. She considered Mithali Raj as a role model when she was a child. Significantly, when Veda was 12, Mithali was felicitated at her school. Veda later went on to play with Mithali in both domestic and national teams.

Cricket career

In November 2015, she was named in B-grade contract list, this was first time

BCCI The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...

offered contracts to women players.

Domestic career

Karnataka State Cricket Association hosted their first-ever

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

exhibition match between a KSCA President's XI and a KSCA Secretary's XI and Veda was chosen to lead the President's XI. In October 2017, she was signed by the

Hobart Hurricanes Hobart Hurricanes are an Australian professional men's Twenty20 franchise cricket team based in Hobart, Tasmania. They compete in Australia's domestic Big Bash League. The Hurricanes play the majority of their home matches at Ninja Stadium ...

for the 2017–18 Women's Big Bash League season. For the 2021 senior domestic one-day trophy, Veda was named captain of Karnataka and led the team all the way to the final, where they lost to the Railways. In December 2023, she was signed by Gujarat Giants at the Women's Premier League auction, for the 2024 season.

International career

She made her debut in international cricket at the age of 18 in a

against England Women at

in June 2011 and went on to score 51 runs in that match. Meanwhile, her T20 debut for India was in a match against Australia in the Natwest T20 Quadrangular series at Billericay, on the same tour of England. Krishnamurthy was part of the Indian team to reach the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the

2017 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup was an international women's cricket tournament that took place in England from 24 June to 23 July 2017. It was the eleventh edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, and the third to be held in England (after ...

where the team lost to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

by nine runs.England v India: Women's World Cup final – live!
''The Guardian'', 23 July 2017. The Indian team were chasing a target of 229 runs and required 29 off 33 balls with five wickets in hand when Veda lost her wicket. She scored 35 runs in the innings. In the final league match of the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup against New Zealand, Krishnamurthy came to bat in the 37th over. With a strike rate of over 150, she smashed 70 runs off just 45 balls, which included seven fours and two sixes, before getting run out on the penultimate ball of the innings. Her performance was highly lauded and it led the Indian side to the semi-finals of the series. She is the third cricketer from India to play in the Big Bash. Krishnamurthy secured a deal with the

Hobart Hurricanes (WBBL) The Hobart Hurricanes (WBBL) are a women's Twenty20 cricket team based in Bellerive, Tasmania. They compete in the Women's Big Bash League. History Formation One of eight founding WBBL teams, the Hobart Hurricanes are aligned with the men' ...

for the third season of the WBBL. She joined the duo of

Hayley Matthews Hayley Kristen Matthews (born 19 March 1998) is a Barbadian sportswoman. She plays international cricket for the West Indies and Mumbai Indians as an all-rounder, batting right-handed and bowling right-arm off break. She plays domestic cricket ...

and Lauren Winfield. In October 2018, she was named in India's squad for the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2018 Women's World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the Women's World Twenty20, hosted in the West Indies from 9 to 24 November 2018. It the second World Twenty20 hosted by the West Indies (after the 2010 edition), and the West Indies wer ...

tournament in the West Indies. In January 2020, she was named in India's squad for the

2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup The 2020 Women's T20 World Cup was the seventh Women's T20 World Cup tournament. It was held in Australia between 21 February and 8 March 2020. The 2020 Women's T20 World Cup final, final took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Internati ...

in Australia.

Personal life

Krishnamurthy has several

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

s. In the Railways and Indian teams, she has always been referred to as "Ved". At the Hurricanes, she was called "Darth" or "Darthy", a name chosen by Corinne Hall, after

Darth Vader Darth Vader () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was first introduced in the original film trilogy as the primary antagonist and one of the leaders of the Galactic Empire. He has become one of the most iconic villain ...

. In the Karnataka circuit, she is known as "Dhana". According to Krishnamurthy, that word "... literally translates to cow. But in context here, Dhana means a buffalo, because of my height. When I started playing, I was only four feet tall."

References

External links

* * *] {{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnamurthy, Veda 1992 births Living people Cricketers from Karnataka Indian women cricketers India women One Day International cricketers India women Twenty20 International cricketers Karnataka women cricketers People from Chikmagalur Railways women cricketers Sportswomen from Karnataka Hobart Hurricanes (WBBL) cricketers Indian expatriate cricketers in Australia IPL Supernovas cricketers IPL Velocity cricketers