The Kranti Gaud Story: From Replacement Player To The Nation's Daughter

Once just a replacement player, Kranti Gaud rose from a struggling family in Chhatarpur to become a World Champion - a sister at home, now a daughter of the entire nation.

Ghuwara, a small town in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district, which people hardly knew about, has now become a prime location in the state. Not just the local and national media but the top politicians of MP are taking an interest, whereas the locals are taking out time to visit Munna Singh’s family in the area’s police residential quarters to congratulate them. Kranti, their daughter, has not only made them proud but has given them a celebrity feeling.

Legends like Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Anjum Chopra, to name a few, couldn’t lay their hands on the prestigious ICC Women’s World Cup trophy despite toiling for years. But it was Kranti’s fate that she became a world champion, that too, within four months of making her international debut.

May 11, 2025, was when she made her ODI debut, against Sri Lanka in the Tri-Series final. Though she returned wicketless, her speed and accuracy prompted the team management to show faith in her. The subsequent England tour changed her destiny, making her India’s go-to pace option.

She was the highest wicket-taker of the series with nine wickets in three games, including her best ODI figures of 6/52 in Chester-le-Street. Her consistency with the ball assured her a World Cup berth, and she returned with 9 wickets in the tournament and the winner’s medal.

Kranti’s family, who never expected her to play for the country, now takes pride in her achievement. She is the first in her entire family to represent India at the highest level of the sport, and the first perhaps from Chattarpur to be a World Champion.

“Ab wo sirf meri behen nahi rahi, pure desh ki beti ban chuki hai (She isn’t just my sister, she is now the daughter of this country)," Mayank, the eldest brother among six siblings in the Gaud family, told CNN-News18 CricketNext.

“The achievement is unbelievable … but we never imagined she would win the World Cup with four months of making her debut," he added.

Kranti is the youngest among her brothers and sisters. Father Munna, a former constable in the MP Police, lost his job in 2012, forcing Mayank to quit academics and take up a job to support the family. Amid the setback, Kranti’s will to play cricket was never suppressed.

“She was never good at studies. She was fond of playing cricket since childhood. We live in police quarters, so there is a playground. You know how boys always think of cricket. So when we used to play, she used to join us," Mayank added.

“We never opposed her. She did what she wanted. But we never expected her to play for the country."

Even before earning her debut cap in Colombo, Kranti had experienced the glitz and glamour of the Women’s Premier League. Earlier this year, she made her debut for UP Warriorz and ended up taking six wickets in eight matches.

Later in May, she received her maiden call-up before the tri-series in Sri Lanka. But to their surprise, Kranti and Mayank didn’t take BCCI’s call seriously and felt it was a scam!

“We didn’t believe when she got the first call. I told her, ‘Paagal hai kya. Raat ko 11 baje kaun BCCI phone karta hai (Are you mad? No way the BCCI would call this much late in the night). They must be sleeping. But when we got the visa and tickets, then only we believed," he added.

Mayank says Kranti’s action has always been like boy. She doesn’t bowl like a girl. And the journey began almost a decade ago when she used to play tennis ball cricket with her brother and other boys living in the police quarters. But the entire region got to know about her skillset when she replaced a player in a one-off women’s season ball match at the 11th hour.

“Back in 2017-18, there was a local tournament which had just one women’s game. A player in the team from the Sagar division fell ill right before the game, leaving them with 10 players. That’s when we suggested that the organisers to consider Kranti. She was there on the sidelines, waving a lathi like a bat," said Phool Singh, Kranti’s neighbour and a brotherly figure, posted as a police constable in Ghuwara.

“‘Je hai humari gudiya’, (here’s our girl), we said, and they picked her to complete the team. Kranti scored 25-28 runs, got 2 wickets and won the player of the match award. That’s when people saw her capability," he added.

That local cricket match changed her fate. Rajeev Bilthare, a renowned coach in Chhatarpur who runs Sai Sports Academy, got to know about Kranti.

With Kranti’s father out of work and the family struggling to make ends meet, Bilthare decided to enroll her free of cost. That was just the beginning. The struggle was never-ending as she had to juggle between Ghuwara and Chhatarpur regularly.

“That match was the first time she played with a leather ball. Then Rajeev ji trained her properly. She gradually progressed to the age group, and then WPL and now she has made every one of us proud," Phool Singh added.

The Ghuwara town watched the final together. While a few had been to Mumbai to watch the game at the DY Patil Stadium, LED screens were installed at different places where people gathered in huge numbers to witness history being scripted by the women in blue. And now, the town awaits their daughter.

Kranti, after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, is expected to return home later this week.

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