COVID 19 Female cricketer Anuja Patil offers groceries money for people in Kolhapur

  • | Thursday | 7th May, 2020

With no cricket in sight in the near future due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the sport's groundsmen are the worst affected. Touched by their plight, India women's all-rounder Anuja Patil has came forward to help the groundsmen in her hometown, Kolhapur. Patil has distributed groceries worth approximately Rs 40,000 to groundsmen besides providing financial aid to some in dire need. Supporting Patil in this cause are former Maharashtra pacer Ramesh Kadam, her Maharashtra teammate Rutuja Deshmukh, U-23 batsman Ranjit Nikam and trainer Swapnil Kadam. "This crisis may last for another couple of months, so I plan to meet these groundsmen again to help out," added Patil.

With no cricket in sight in the near future due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the sports groundsmen are the worst affected. Touched by their plight, India womens all-rounder Anuja Patil has came forward to help the groundsmen in her hometown, Kolhapur. Patil has distributed groceries worth approximately Rs 40,000 to groundsmen besides providing financial aid to some in dire need. Supporting Patil in this cause are former Maharashtra pacer Ramesh Kadam, her Maharashtra teammate Rutuja Deshmukh, U-23 batsman Ranjit Nikam and trainer Swapnil Kadam. The group visited Kolhapurs Shaupuri Gymkhana, Shivaji Maharaj Stadium and Shau Stadium and provided aid to 11 groundsmen. Challenging times "This is a challenging time for all. And having undergone some of these tough situations personally, I understand how challenging it is to manage things. I feel its my duty to help the needy," Patil, whose father Arun used to be an auto rickshaw driver till a few years ago, told mid-day. "This crisis may last for another couple of months, so I plan to meet these groundsmen again to help out," added Patil. Kadam said: "So far, we have distributed 11 grocery kits comprising rice (25kg), wheat (25kg), sugar (10kg), oil (5litre), dal (5kg), tea powder, soap etc." India As Anuja Patil during the first ODI against Australia A at Brisbane last December. pic/Getty Images Having represented India in 50 T20Is, Patil cant wait to put on her India jersey and get on the cricket field again. But before that, she is keen to use this lockdown phase to upgrade her skills. "Im utilising this time to work on my game. Im following the schedule that has been given to us by our coach WV Raman sir and also speaking to my local coaches—Suraj Jadhav and Anil Sangawkar. I spend two hours training every morning and evening. I do my batting drills by hanging the ball on a rod and also bowl a bit in my parking lot. Im also working on improving my visualisation of the ball with certain drills," said Patil, who has claimed 48 T20I wickets with her off-spinners. Mental preparation Patil made a fine impression in the fifth and final T20I on November 20 last year at the Providence Stadium in West Indies, returning with figures of 3-1-3-2 to help India win by 61 runs. "I want to ensure that I am mentally prepared because whenever the situation is normal again, cricket will begin and I should be ready to perform," Patil concluded. Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates. Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

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