CHENNAI: When D Vrinda got ruled out of the 2024 Women’s Premier League due to a shoulder injury, it came as a huge blow to the Karnataka batter. She came into her first season of WPL with a lot of momentum and was keen to make a mark for UP Warriorz. But due to the injury, all came crashing down. For it was not just about the WPL. Vrindra would go on to miss the multi-day domestic tournament, India A of Australia, undergo surgery, and not play cricket for several months that followed.

Although she was disappointed at the time, ten months on, Vrinda feels the injury came as a blessing in disguise. She is all smiles after becoming the player of the match in the final of the senior women’s one-day challengers, helping Team C beat Team A to win the title at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. She had sensational one-dayers for Karnataka scoring 380 runs at 63.33 average and 146.71 strike rate and followed it up with a stellar show in the challengers.

When she was hit by the injury a year ago, Vrinda decided to take some time off. Since she did not have any choice, Vrinda embraced it gleefully. She went on a holiday with her family and then did a solo trip to Kedarnath, walking on the hills and enjoying every moment she had. It helped her develop patience, become calmer and when she came back, Vrinda was a different person. “She came back with a different perspective about life. She took cricket as part of her life and not as her life,” recalled Kiran Uppoor, Vrinda’s coach at the NICE academy. “When she started practicing, it was a lot more relaxed, a lot more calmer, and a lot more specific. There was no target-driven, result-orientated stuff. It was just her coming and enjoying her cricket. That was a brilliant change and that made her even freer in the mind,” he added.