Vanitha VR took to Twitter to announce her retirement from all formats of the game. In her tweet, she expressed her heartfelt gratitude towards her parents, siblings, Irfan sir, Naz bhai, Murli sir, Varun, her brother and mentor, Anand Date, Rohan, her trainer at Invictus, Shantha ma’am, Kalpana ma’am, Dilip Anna, and Gargi ma’am.
She also acknowledged Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj, with whom she shared the dressing room for two years. She also thanked the Karnataka State Cricket Association and Cricket Association of Bengal, including her teammates, coaches, physiotherapists, trainers and other support staff.
The 31-year old made her international debut for India in 2014 against Sri Lanka in an ODI in Vishakhapatnam and a couple of days later made her T20I debut also against the same opposition in Vizianagaram. She featured in six ODIs and 16 T20Is for India between 2014 and 2016. She was a part of the Indian squad for the 2016 World T20. She played as an opening batter and scored over 300 international runs.
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Vanitha went on to thank her teammates and the management for the support she received during her career. It was a short-lived career but she now intends to find and groom new young talents in the cricketing fraternity.
“It’s been a journey of struggles, joy, heartbreak, learning, and personal milestones. While there are a few regrets, I’m grateful for the opportunities I got, especially to represent India. Along the way, there have been many people I want to thank, each and everyone who has supported me through these years...”
“Cricket has given me everything, friendships, joys, identity, and memories that will cherish forever. The next chapter of my life I would like to dedicate to grooming young talents in Cricket. This is not the end but a beginning of a new challenge,” she added.
She called her retirement from the game “not the end but the beginning of a new challenge”.
In the limited number of ODIs and T20Is she played, Vanitha scored 85 and 216 runs respectively, and was a part of India’s squad during the Women’s World T20 at home.
During the 2021-22 domestic season, Vanitha guided Bengal to the semi-finals of the Women’s Senior One-Day Trophy, scoring 225 runs with knocks of 61 against Andhra and a 71-ball 107 against Hyderabad. She enjoyed a strike rate of over 100 in the tournament.
Just like any other girl in India, Vanitha started playing cricket in the neighborhood with her father and brother. Her father took her to Karnataka Institute of Cricket (KIOC), when she was just 11 years old. At the KIOC, she was coached by Irfan Sait. Within five to six months, Vanitha was looking good and was ready to represent her state. At the age of 12, she made it to the Karnataka U-19 squad, however, had to wait for her turn to feature in the starting XI.
She made her debut for Karnataka in 2006. After playing for Karnataka for more than a decade, she made the switch to Bengal in 2021. She played six matches for Bengal and mustered 225 runs, including the best of 107 against Hyderabad. In the Indian domestic circuit, this right handed batter is known to be an attacking and aggressive player.
Apart from being a fine cricketer, she is an enterprising businesswoman, having started her venture Orgobliss in 2013, alongside her brother Suresh. Orgobliss is an organic food shop that offers an avalanche of organic food products.
Female Cricket would like to wish Vanitha VR all the best for her future.
And this lovely innings comes to an END !— Vanitha VR
