Kannur: There will be Shikhar Dhawan’s fan who does not flinch in front of his sisters’ fast ball on the field. Ritika, a six-year-old girl, made it to the under-15 Kannur district cricket team through her sportsmanship. The under-15 team consists mostly of children aged 10 years and above. Little Ritika came to them with a bat. It has been almost three months since this second class girl started batting for the Kannur district team.
Ritika is watching her brother Ritu playing cricket. At the age of five, he joined Go Getters Cricket Academy in Kannur and started training.
K. of Rhythm House in Mayil Town. K is the daughter of Ratheesh and Babita Babu Parai. Ritika. The parents decided to participate in the team selection held in Thalassery to gain experience for their daughter. However, due to his good performance and interest in cricket, he was selected for the training camp. Later Ritika was among the team members selected from the camp.
At first, parents were afraid of getting injured while playing with the stitch ball with their older children. Bought helmets and safety pads. Three sizes of baby bats were also selected for her. Other kids use bigger bats. But when she took to the field first with the bat, all the parents’ worries vanished along with the ball. District team champions Kannur became team members.
“At first, I was afraid to play with my sisters. And then it changed. I prefer to bowl. When you grow up, you should become a great cricketer.”-This is Ritika’s big decision. Shikhar Dhawan’s die-hard fan Ritika used to cut her hair like him for a while. Training is on Saturdays and Sundays when there is no school.
The support provided by the Academy coaches Vaishakh Balan, Nisab and Atul is also great.