Chandigarh: When 24-year-old Amanjot Kaur’s name was announced in the Indian women’s squad for the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup starting September 30, there was no grand celebration in her Mohali home. Instead, there was pride in the eyes of a father who had relentlessly tried everything to see his daughter’s dream take flight.Her father, Bhupinder Singh, 54, a carpenter and contractor, still recalls the first time someone pointed out his daughter’s talent. “She used to play on the streets with boys older than her,” he said, adding, “One elderly man near our home watched her and told me, ‘You should enroll her in an academy.’ That’s when I realised she wasn’t just playing, she was special. I took it upon myself to not let her live the same life my father and I had lived as carpenters.”The journey from that moment to today has been anything but easy. When Amanjot entered Class 11, her parents took her to Govt School, Sector 26, hoping to get her into their cricket program. The doors didn’t open there, but fate had another plan. They met coach Nagesh Gupta, who was training players in Sector 32. That chance meeting became the turning point in Amanjot’s life.From then on, Bhupinder’s days became a blur of endless kilometres. “Every day I would travel almost 120km, dropping her to school, rushing back to Mohali for work, then returning to pick her up. To manage, I had to reduce work and cut down expenses. If we bought a bat one month, we had to wait till the next month for shoes or gear. But she never complained,” he recalled.She was, in his words, a child who adjusted to everything. Even the rain couldn’t stop her. “If I told her not to go for practice because it was raining, she would say, ‘Papa, it’s not raining at the academy, I know.’ And she would go.”Her schoolteachers, too, saw something in her. While other teachers worried about her low marks, the sports faculty shielded her. “They would tell me, ‘Don’t worry about marks, she is brilliant in her own way.’ That faith kept me going.”For Bhupinder, one moment stands above the rest. “When she made her international debut in 2023, she called me at night. I couldn’t sleep after that call. My happiness knew no bounds.”But Amanjot’s story isn’t only about cricket, it’s also about courage. At just eight years old, while returning from a gurdwara with her grandmother and younger sister, she saw her sibling run into the path of a speeding vehicle. Without thinking twice, she pushed her sister to safety, taking the hit herself.Even in her career, adversity found her. A stress fracture in her back and a hand ligament injury sidelined her for more than six months in 2024. For many young athletes, that would have been the end. For Amanjot, it was a test.Her coach, Nagesh Gupta, still marvels at her resilience. “She has taught me a lot, even though I’m the coach,” he said. “If the practice would be at 6am, she would already be there at 5.30. That motivated me to try and reach before her, but somehow, she always beat me to it. During her injury, there were tough days, at first you hope for quick recovery, but as months pass, the hope fades. Yet, her willpower never wavered. She became more humble, more spiritual, and came back stronger.”Even today, he laughs, she loves surprising him. “When I ask her when she’s coming, she says ‘day after tomorrow.’ But when I reach the academy, I find her there, already waiting to surprise me.”For Singh, who has never been able to watch his daughter’s matches live because he must care for his elderly parents, the joy is still complete. “Society is strange,” he said. “When they see a girl playing, they object. But the moment she achieves something, they fall silent. My job was simply to support her dream.”
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As Amanjot Kaur prepares to don the India jersey in front of the world, Mohali celebrates one of its own. For her father, the little girl who once played cricket in the streets has already won the biggest trophy of all, proving that faith, sacrifice, and courage can carry a dream all the way to the World Cup.