WPL 2023: From Almost Quitting Cricket To Early Owner Of Purple Cap, Saika Ishaque Shines Through

Saika Ishaque, the left-arm spinner playing for Mumbai Indians, grabbed eyeballs in the early stages after becoming an early owner of the Purple Cap at the ongoing Women’s Premier League 2023. Taking herself to the top of the highest wicket-takers list, she has secured 12 wickets from five matches this season already.

Ishaque has come a long way since she nearly quit cricket to taking a wicket in every over she bowled against the Gujarat Giants followed by two wickets against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Purple Cap In IPL/WPL

The Indian Premier League's Purple Cap honours the player who has taken the most wickets in a single season (IPL). Since the start of the IPL in 2008, this award has been given out continuously, and elite bowlers fight against one another for the coveted trophy.

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The Purple Cap, awarded in the inaugural Women's Premier League (WPL 2023), will go to the player with the most wickets over the 22-match competition.

About Saika Ishaque

Hailing from Park Circus in Kolkata, Ishaque began playing cricket with boys at an academy in the city where her peers thought she was a boy, she said in an interview. “I had short hair and looked quite like a boy; I was about nine then,” a smiling Saika said during an interview with The Hindu on Wednesday. “When those boys found out that I was a girl, I felt embarrassed. They stopped talking to me.”

She first encountered success in this career with the Bengal women’s U-19 team. However, she found it difficult to keep up with the momentum. With the demise of Ishaque’s father during her early age, her mother was struggling financially, as the two sisters from the slums of Park Circus were chasing their dreams.

“But I am not living my dream, I am living my father’s dream,” Saika says. “He used to take me along to watch Mohammedan Sporting’s football matches, but wanted me to play cricket. One of his friends — I think his name was Babloo — took me to that boys’ academy and later to another, where Jhulan Goswami trained,” she said in an interview.

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Saika Ishaque’s Favourite Team In Mumbai Indians

On getting selected for Mumbai Indians, Ishaque said, “MI has been my favourite IPL team and I am a fan of Suryakumar Yadav. It is great playing alongside Harmanpreet Kaur, who is such a fine captain. Coach Charlotte Edwards has given me a lot of confidence.”