How Visualisation Helped Hat-Trick Hero

Vaishnavi Sharma’s dream debut was testament to the power of visualisation.

Athletes have long been using their senses to imagine themselves performing in their sport.

In the last 20 or 30 years a whole host of legendary cricketers, particularly batters, have embraced the technique, with Sachin Tendulkar and Matthew Hayden among those to espouse its benefits.

On the fourth day of the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, a 19-year-old followed in their footsteps and made Indian cricketing history.

Vaishnavi Sharma was made to wait for her moment in the sun, missing out on selection for India’s opening Group A game against West Indies, where Sonam Yadav took the left-arm spinner slot as they hustled out the Windies for 44.

A clash with tournament debutants and hosts Malaysia offered the chance to rotate the squad with Sharma coming into the side as the only change.

The bowler, who is the first from the Chambal region to represent the team, was in no mood to let her chance go to waste.

“When I was told I was playing, I went back to my room,” she explained. “I started visualising that I would bowl, take six wickets, and get a hat-trick.”

Sharma, who started playing cricket at the tender age of five, delivered almost word for word and showed the fruits of her development which began at the Tansen Cricket Academy in Gwalior.

She took an astounding five wickets for five runs from four overs in a faultless spell to lead her side to a thumping ten-wicket win.

Any early nerves she was feeling were settled when she made a first entry in the wickets column in the eighth over, as captain Niki Prasad held a catch off her bowling.

“I made sure that when I was on the field, I controlled my nerves and focused on my bowling,” she explained. “I calmed myself down and focused on my job.”

In the next over, she clean bowled Malaysia’s Nuriman and the entire spell was marked out for its unrelenting accuracy.

“I assessed the wicket and weather conditions,” explained Sharma of her approach. “I wanted to keep the ball on the stumps because there was a lot of turn, that was also helping me.”

Sharma could do no wrong as she trapped Ain and Nur Isma Dania in front in successive balls, before Nazwah was bowled around her legs to complete the hat-trick.

It was the third hat-trick in ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup history with Sharma’s figures the best ever recorded at the tournament.

“I’ve been seeing her for a very long time,” said skipper Prasad. “Her coming in and playing her first game for her country, she has done a really good job. She’s done it for her team, for herself, for her fans and her family. It’s very special for all of us.”

The bigger picture is very rosy for the Indian team as they aim for back-to-back titles, with the ability to bring a player like Sharma into the side demonstrating staggering squad depth.

The sternest test of their Group A campaign will come against Sri Lanka, who have looked mightily impressive in recording two victories, but with Sharma the newest and brightest star of the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, momentum is certainly on their side.

“Our coaches have made sure that we are well prepared,” said Prasad. “We’ve been given everything and it’s seen on the field. We’re going out there and executing what we’ve been doing.

“We’ve made sure that when we get on the field, we are there to dominate and that’s what all of us are doing out there.”