Women’s Senior One Day Trophy: From Indrani Roy to Sneh Rana, top performers of 2021 season

The Senior Women’s ODI Trophy came to a close in Rajkot on Sunday with Railways bagging the title for a record-extending 12th time. No other team in the history of the tournament has won more than one title, and the dominance of India’s domestic stalwarts was only extended once Mithali Raj and Punam Raut returned from their international assignment against South Africa.

Already unbeaten in the group stages, Railways romped through the knockouts as well, defeating Odisha, Bengal and first-time finalists Jharkhand in the final.

Sneh Rana, who captained Railways when Mithali was on India duty, emerged as one of the top performers of the tournament across the board. She scored 160 runs at a superb strike rate of 123 while topping the chart for wicket-takers with her off-spin claiming 18 wickets. Fittingly, she hit the winning runs for her side.

The 27-year-old last played for India in February 2016 and perhaps a comeback into the international scheme of things is on the cards with the national side lacking middle order firepower.

Another allrounder to have caught the eye was Andhra’s Challa Jhansi Lakshmi, who impressed with a 5-wicket haul in the quarterfinal against Vidharbha. The 22-year-old finished with 15 wickets and 358 runs in the tournament, featuring in the top five for both batters and bowlers.

The breakthrough team of the tournament was, without a doubt, Mani Niharika-led Jharkhand. Wicketkeeper-bat Indrani Roy finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer (and one of the only two batters to score multiple centuries) and her ability to find the boundaries frequently is bound to catch the selectors’ eyes.

Roy’s abilities as a top order batter who can keep wickets is an area India really could use a boost, given the revolving door for that slot in recent times. Her opening partners Rashmi Guddia also impressed for Jharkhand as a fearless, young unit went all the way to the final.

Apart from Rana and Lakshmi’s all-round efforts, Vidarbha’s Nupur Kohale and Puducherry’s Amruta Saran featured in the top wicket-takers list, picking up 16 in the tournament.

Among India stars, Punam Raut and Deepti Sharma returned to domestic cricket in some style. The former finished the tournament with back-to-back half centuries to carry on her fine form from the South Africa series, while opening for Bengal, Deepti scored had a ninety-plus and a century to her name.

Having missed out on selection for India vs South Africa, Shikha Pandey did not have the best of returns, picking up five wickets for Goa in six matches. Ekta Bisht, however, still has plenty to offer, as she finished as the second top wicket-taker for champions Railways (13 in 7 matches).

Allrounder Pooja Vastrakar, who also missed out on India duty, finished the tournament with impressive returns for Madhya Pradesh scoring 222 runs at an average of 44.4 and a strike rate of 89.51, to go with her eight wickets in six matches.

Here is a look at the chart-toppers in various key metrics from the tournament:

(Scroll across or swipe right to view all columns)

Batting

Bowling

Statistics courtesy: BCCI.tv