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When she was a budding cricketer, neighbours of Dharavi resident Simran Shaikh discouraged her father from allowing her to play the sport saying ‘yeh ladki, ladkon ke sath khelti’ (She plays with boys).” On Sunday evening, those very same people made a beeline to her ramshackle tiny home in Asia’s biggest slum to congratulate her father Jahid Ali, a wireman as Simran was bought by Gujarat Giants for Rs 1.90 crore at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction held in Bengaluru.
“I have no words to express my joy. Till last night I was just hoping to just get picked by one of the teams. I have been getting non-stop calls since Gujarat Giants bought me at the auction. There were times when it was a struggle to buy a basic cricket kit. But whatever I have got is because of cricket and I will work harder than before,” Simran Shaikh told The Indian Express from Ahmedabad, where she is representing Mumbai in the Women’s Senior One Day Trophy.
Simran is now the second-highest paid uncapped player after Kashvee Gautam — Rs 2cr to Gujarat Giants last year. Yet, Simran’s cricket career could have been nipped in the bud if her father had paid heed to the naysayers.
“Coming from a Muslim family and being underprivileged, it wasn’t an easy choice to play cricket. I remember people telling my father, ‘Jahid, kya kar raha hai tu (What are you doing?). It is time she learns ghar ka kaam (household work). Sports won’t get her anywhere. But my father didn’t ask me to stop playing. Today the same people have come to congratulate our family,” Simran Shaikh said.
The family of Simran Shaikh pose at Simran’s residence at Dharavi slum area after she became the most expensive buy of Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 with Gujarat Giants paying Rs 1.90 crore. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)
It wasn’t easy for Jahid and his wife Akhtari Bano to make ends meet with a wireman’s salary. Simran is the third of eight children — four sisters and three brothers. Simran has told her father to use the big pay cheque to uplift the family.
“Zindagi bhar yeh gali-kuchar mein nikal diya. Zhopde mein rahe. (Our whole lives we have lived near narrow lanes with open gutters in the slum). Eleven people in our family live in two rooms. Now with this money we will buy a good house and live a decent life. Thank God I didn’t listen to friends who told me to dissuade Simran from playing cricket,” Jahid told this paper.
Simran Shaikh’s father Jahid Ali shows off her trophies at their residence in Dharavi. (Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)
Simran Shaikh headlined a day on which uncapped Indian players got big bucks. Three of the top four buys were uncapped Indians — Simran; G Kamalini, a 16-year-old wicketkeeper from Madurai, sold to Mumbai Indians for Rs 1.60 crore; and all rounder Prema Rawat, 23, to Royal Challengers Bengaluru for Rs 1.60 crore. They were in the same league in terms of money as West Indies’ star all-rounder Deandra Dottin (Gujarat Giants; Rs 1.70 cr) in the mini-auction in which teams had to fill 19 slots.
Simran Shaikh reacts after joining #GujaratGiants ahead of #TATAWPL2025 🙌#TATAWPLAuction #JioCinemaSports #WPLAuctiononJioStar pic.twitter.com/qJQu6GGd8Z
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) December 15, 2024
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The windfall at the auction marked a comeback for Simran. She was bought for her base prize of Rs 10 lakh by UP Warriorz at the inaugural auction. But in nine matches at WPL 2023, she scored 29 runs at a strike rate of 60.41 and an average of 5.80. Those returns saw her get released after the first season, and she didn’t find a team for WPL 2024.
Her numbers in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy this season for eventual champions Mumbai weren’t that great as she scored 176 runs at a strike rate of 100.57 but she did find the fence frequently, roughly hitting a boundary every 7 balls she faced. In the recent T20 Challenger Trophy, playing for Team E, she scored 7 sixes and 6 fours in just 40 balls she faced across five innings, resulting in a stunning strike rate of 202.50.
Simran Shaikh bats during WPL 2024.
Striking power
“Although her numbers weren’t great last season, it’s her experience that sets her apart. Her strike rate, which is close to 130, is excellent because she bats in the middle order. Regardless of the situation, she can hit those big shots. She’s also an excellent fielder, which is a significant advantage,” former India captain Anjum Chopra told JioCinema.
It’s that striking power that caught the attention of Gujarat head coach Michael Klinger. “We have been watching the local competitions closely and she has stepped up in terms of strike rate, so to have someone we can put in the top 6 or 7 with her six-hitting abilities is something we were looking for,” Klinger told the broadcasters.
Simran Shaikh is happy that she will be a reason why Dharavi gets a good name. “Sab Dharavi ko slum he dekhe hai. (People just look at Dharavi as a slum). But I am happy that they will now know that it has produced a cricketer too. There are lots of good cricketers in Dharavi and I hope others make it big. My main aim is to play for India one day.”
With Vinayakk Mohanarangan
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