Meet Anuradha Doddaballapur, a cardiovascular scientist in Bengaluru and cricket captain of Germanys

Anuradha grew up in Basavanagud, a residential area in South Bengaluru. Like many middle-class fathers in Bengaluru at the time, he was also an avid follower of cricket. Live games and their replays on TV were hard to miss. A young man from his city called Rahul Dravid already made his presence in international cricket. But Anuradha became more interested in cricket in another country. Zinc-stained, scary fast bowler from South Africa: Allan Donald.

On Sunday morning from Frankfurt, where he now lives, he recalls on the phone his childhood in the 90s. Dosas Vidyarthi from Bhavan and CTR. Trafficless roads. And what’s more enjoyable, weekend cricket games with his brother, cousins ​​and uncle in the front yard of his ancestor’s house. Despite his love for Donald, Anuradha twisted his legs in the early years of the spin.

He also recalls what he calls a counting event in his cricket career. I was in Class VII at Bishop Cotton Girls School and a classmate who was playing in Karnataka told me about the trial when I was under 16 years old. I called home from one rupee coin-operated phone and told them I was late.

A few weeks later, Anuradha debuted on the Karnataka U-16 team. Over the next decade, he played on the U-19 side, the senior state team, and the South Zone. Some of his teammates like Veda Krishnamurthy, Vanitha VR, Nooshin Al Khadeer, Karuna Jain and Mamatha Maben continued to play in India. He, too, could have chosen to focus more on his serious hobby than on his growing interest in science. The next women’s cricket in India was missing almost then. It was not a good career choice. So in 2008 he moved to the UK for a Master of Medicine in Genetics at the University of Newcastle. Three years later he was in Frankfurt for a doctorate in cardiovascular biology at the University of Goethe. He is now a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Heart and Lung Research Institute.

What if women’s cricket in India were next as it is now? Would he have chosen cricket instead of science? Anuradha stops before saying: I think I would still have gone to the UK. I could have taken a little longer to decide.

Although he chose science over cricket because of his profession, he never let go of the game. It had become a part of his life. Wherever he went, he looked for it. If he couldn’t find a team, he set it up.

While in England for three years, she played for the University of Newcastle, the South North Cricket Club and the Northumberland Women’s District. At least English was a cricket people and it wasn’t too hard to find women who played cricket. Frankfurt, to which he moved in 2011, was another story. It had no women’s teams. So she did what she did as a young girl in Basavanagud; play with boys.

It was awkward for the men who played against the Frankfurt Cricket Club (FCC). They were surprised to see a woman bowling at them. And I don’t think they were very happy when they got out, he adds with a laugh.

Despite Anuradha healing guys, she had the idea to form a women’s team for the FCC in 2015. There was a problem that there were hardly any players to choose from.

Cricket is a sport in Germany. Most of those who play the game are people who come from an accomplished cricket nation. Participation is lower for women. Exactly, so there is no team to choose from; so, built one, thought Anuradha. She started coaching, completed a certified course, and began teaching basics to beginners.

Eight months after 2015, she assembled a women’s team. Six years later, for the first time, she won a top-notch tournament, the German Women’s Bundesliga, with them. He came. He saw. He could not find a team; so created one. And he won.

He has been part of the German side since 2013. He has played 18 T20I games, including the one that made Twitter teams tweet to Kannada. He laughs when asked. But in addition to the fun of seeing the heel of the German team, there are multiculturalism and camaraderie. All players are very proud to wear a German shirt. But some of us have roots around the world. Kenya, Australia, USA, India. “There are two other Bengaluri on the team, Karthika Vijayaraghavan and Sharanya Sadarangani.” So, sometimes, in addition to English and German, we throw these sentences around [in our native languages and ]. And, Agathe is one of them.

Germany ranked in the top 40 on the ICC T20I list when T20I status was awarded in 2018 to all international games. They are now 24. Anuradha would have liked to lead them to the World Cup. It will take several years of continuous progress to get Germany there. Anuradha, 34, may not be playing then, but would like to see the next generation of players.

He is already volunteering with the Cricket Board for coaching, recruitment and promotional activities.

“You may not always get the required results right away. But you have to keep trying.” Anuradha is not talking about cricket here. He talks about another area of ​​interest: science. “Sometimes you have to work on an experiment or hypothesis for months or years, and you fail. There is more failure in science than success. But you come back and try again.”

Flexibility requirement. According to Anuradha, this combines cricket and science.