Shikha Pandey Biography: The cricket counterpart of Shikha Pandey is, however, somewhat dissimilar. There is no place for simple sample material when she loads her run-up alongside one of the game’s legends, Jhulan Goswami. Born in Karimnagar, Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana), the Indian all-rounder has always possessed the intelligence to settle into a state of tranquilly regardless of the severity of the problem.
Shikha Pandey Biography
Early years
Pandey’s education was administered by the Central Board of Secondary Education of India. She became the first player affiliated with a state board to represent India at age 15. Surekha Bhandare, a former Mumbai player and selector, saw Pandey play within months of this affiliation and her introduction to the formal set-up and believed that she had all the makings of a future India player. “Her raw talent was difficult to overlook,” Bhandare was quoted as saying. She ranked third in the state on the class ten board examinations (secondary education). Three years later, she decided to devote more time to her education and put cricket on the back burner. Before her second year as an undergraduate in Electronics and Electrical Engineering, she began actively pursuing the sport.
Academics have always been important to Pandey, who had to juggle cricket and college, spending her mornings doing gym sessions and academic work, and her afternoons travelling 12 kilometres to Mapusa to train with Nitin Vernekar, a former Goa cricketer and current Sports Authority of Goa coach. This phase was extremely important to her development as a cricketer, as being the only female at the boys’ facility and facing U-16 and U-19 boys honed her reaction time against fast bowling.
After graduating from Goa College of Engineering in 2010 with a degree in engineering, three multinational corporations offered her positions, but she declined them all and decided to take a year off and focus solely on her cricketing career. She joined the Indian Air Force in July 2011 and was commissioned as an air traffic controller in June 2012. During the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in 2020, she held the rank of Squadron Leader.
Career
Pandey was selected to compete for Goa at the age of 15 in 2004 and again at the age of 17 for the 2007–08 domestic season. In the two-day interstate competition for the Rani Jhansi Trophy, she took four wickets and scored three half-centuries for the Goa Under-19 team. She played for Board President’s XI against the visiting England and West Indies teams in 2010 and January 2011 during her year off from her engineering course.
After the T20 World Cup, she played a single Test match and two One-Day Internationals against England and was instrumental in India’s 26 November 2014 victory over South Africa. She was a member of the Indian team that reached the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup final, where they were defeated by England by nine runs. She was named to India’s squad for the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia in January 2020, and to India’s Test squad for their one-off match against the England women’s cricket team in May 2021.
Achievements
In 2014, Pandey was the first Indian female cricketer to achieve a fifty and take three wickets in the same match. She accomplished this versus South Africa. She is also the first woman from Goa to represent India in cricket. Pandey also received the Dilip Sardesai Award for Athletic Excellence.
Shikha Pandey Net Worth
Shikha Pandey’s estimated net worth is INR 14 crores (approx.).
Shikha Pandey’s salary
Shikha Pandey receives 30 lakhs INR annually as a BCCI Grade B player. Also, she receives 3 lakhs, 6 lakhs, and 15 lakhs for each T20, WODI, and Test match, respectively.
The Fee for Shikha Pandey’s Franchise
The franchise fee for Shikha Pandey is INR 60 lakhs, as she was sold to Delhi Capitals in the 2023 WPL.
Shikha Pandey Endorsements
Shikha endorses brands like Fast&Up and Rootree.
Facts
- Shikha was always drawn to cricket, but she never allowed it to interfere with her academics. Shikha chose to pursue engineering, which she passed with high colours, before deciding to pursue cricket professionally due to her consistent academic performance in school.
- Shikha was selected for the Indian Air Force during her final year of engineering school, where she rose to the rank of Squadron Leader.
First Goan to play cricket for India - Shikha is the first woman from Goa to play cricket for the Indian national team.
- Shikha is the first player from Goa to compete for an Indian national team since Dilip Sardesai. She is also the first cricketer affiliated with the Goa Cricket Association to compete for India.
- On November 26, 2014, against South Africa, Shikha became the first Indian female cricketer to take three wickets and score fifty runs in the same match. Shikha completed her 10-over spell with three wickets while conceding only 19 runs, then returned to score 59 runs off 56 balls to help India win.
