Shree Charani of Delhi Capitals bowling during final of the Women’s Premier League 2025 (WPL) against Mumbai Indians at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, India on the 15th March 2025.
| Photo Credit: Sportzpics/WPL

Nallapureddy Shree Charani burst onto the Women’s Premier League scene as a relatively unknown entity roped in by Delhi Capitals. In two games — against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians (in the final) — Charani’s ability to control the run flow and attack batters in crucial phases made heads turn.

She continued in the same vein in the recently concluded Senior Women’s Multi-Day Challenger Trophy in Dehradun, finishing with nine wickets from three games. This was enough to earn a call-up to the Indian senior side for the Women’s Tri-Nation ODI tournament against Sri Lanka and South Africa later this month.

“I was feeling proud at getting the call-up. I am looking forward to playing with Harman (skipper Harmanpreet Kaur) di, Smriti (Mandhana) di, Jemi (Jemimah Rodrigues) di. They are legends,” the pacer-turned-left-arm spinner told The Hindu.

Delhi Capitals’ Shree Charani during a training session ahead of the Women’s Premier League 2025 match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the BCA Stadium, Vadodara, on 17th February 2025.
| Photo Credit:
Sportzpics/WPL

Being the first woman from the YSR-Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh to be selected for the Indian cricket team is no mean feat, and the 20-year-old received the news from India regulars Harleen Deol and Yastika Bhatia during the Multi-Day Challenger.

Charani’s father tried to enroll her in multiple sports, but she always found herself drawn to cricket.

“My dad first put me into badminton when I was in class six. I would play there, come home and immediately play cricket. Even when I played kho kho in school, I would go early to play cricket before going to play kho kho. I was constantly into cricket only.”

Shree Charani.
| Photo Credit:
Sportzpics/WPL

Charani’s uncle, Kishore Kumar Reddy, had a huge hand in her taking to the sport, often training for long hours with his niece.

“One constant coach for me from childhood, when I was around seven or eight years old, is my uncle, he was the reason I started playing cricket,” she stated.

Kishore has only one piece of advice for her. “I told her only one thing after she got the call-up. The most important thing is to make sure that India does not lose a match, how she plays and performs is up to her, but India should not lose a match.”