WPL 2024: Obsessed with MS Dhoni, powered by javelin skills, Kiran Navgire leaves behind finisher role to arrive as an opener
Kiran Navgire loves finishing games. Her personal coach Gulzar Shaikh shares an aspiration the swashbuckling batter has had for a long time: “To finish matches for India by hitting a six like her idol MS Dhoni.” From her WhatsApp status that reads, ‘cricket god MSD’ to playing with a bat that has the former Indian captain’s initials scribbled on it, Navgire has been aboard the Dhoni hype train since she first saw him hit that World Cup-winning six.So it was only poetic that a promotion up the batting order – à la Dhoni 2005 – brought her out of a slump.
Having played all nine games for UPW last season, she’d only scored 155 runs. The streak of low scores continued in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy last year, and in the first two games in this year’s WPL. With her place in the playing XI ...