WPL 2023: Who is MI's young recruit Sonam Yadav?A labourer's daughter who is set to earn INR 1 million
WPL 2023 - Who is MI's Sonam Yadav All you need to know about her
The inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) is set to kick off on March 04 in Mumbai. It is a keenly-awaited tournament as women's cricket has really grown significantly in the last few years. Ahead of the tournament, the player auction was held early this month in Mumbai where several marquee players made a mark and earned big-fat paycheques. On the other hand, some unknown names also made heads turn with their services being acquired by one of the five teams. Among them, Sonam Yadav hit the headlines as well.
The 15-year-old Sonam was acquired by the Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise for INR 1 million (INR 10 lakhs). But, who is Sonam Yadav? Here's all you need to know about her:
--She is the youngest player to find a team in the WPL.
-- Sonam was part of the victorious Shafali Verma-led India U-19 World Cup team, where she claimed five wickets.
-- The young left-arm spinner, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, started playing cricket at the age of 13. In addition, she has represented Uttar Pradesh in the domestic circuit.
-- Her contract with MI is as many as 100 times her father's monthly wage from shift work at a glass factory.
Humble background
It is to be noted that Sonam's family home is on the outskirts of Firozabad, i.e. an hour's drive from the Taj Mahal, and is close to a fetid open sewage drain where intrusions from rodents and stray dogs are quite common.
Sonam, who is youngest of the six siblings, told AFP, "It's very difficult to make ends meet with my father's salary. We have to face a lot of money problems." She added, "I have many dreams, I want to take my family out for dinner and give a big car to my father."
Meanwhile, Mukesh Kumar -- her father -- pointed out, "We could not afford expensive cricket gear. She did not even have proper shoes and had to borrow a pair before going to trials for a tournament." He further asserted, "I started working double shifts and my son dropped out of school and took up a private job to support her dreams."
Sonam -- a big fan of Ravindra Jadeja -- shared her big dreams and revealed what she aspires to take from WPL. In this regard, she said,"I will get to learn a lot from playing alongside the seniors. All I want is to play for the India seniors team one day and give a good life to my family."