In an exclusive conversation with USA Women’s cricket star Anika Kolan, we dive deep into her remarkable journey from a promising young player to an emerging star in the world of cricket. Anika shares her passion for the sport, the challenges she’s faced, and her future aspirations. Born and raised in California, she discovered cricket at a young age through her father and older brother, who were deeply involved in promoting the sport locally. Anika’s initial interest sparked when she joined her family at a cricket practice, and from that moment, she was hooked.

Despite the challenges of balancing academics with a budding sports career, Anika managed to excel, thanks to her family’s unwavering support and her own disciplined approach. Her journey has not been without obstacles, particularly as a young girl entering a sport traditionally dominated by men. Anika faced skepticism and discouragement, but her resilience helped her overcome these barriers, making her one of the trailblazers for women’s cricket in the USA.

Here are some highlights from the interview:

Q: Tell us about your cricketing journey, how it all began?

Anika: So I first started playing Cricket because of my dad and my older brother. My brother’s name is Anish and he’s three years older than me so when I first started playing cricket I was born and brought up in California and there wasn’t a lot of cricket community. First of all Indian community back then at the time when I first moved into my new neighborhood so my dad my brother and a couple of other uncles had just started kind of adding a cricket program into local clubs, local schools and they were heavily involved in that but my mom and I kind of like stepped away we were focused on our studies and things like that but one time my mom and I were doing math homework at home and I just wanted a break from the math homework so I went with my brother and my dad to get dropped off at cricket practice and from there I just got really interested. I was immediately intrigued, started asking questions and then a week later I was enrolled in my first ever summer camp and from the age of 9 or 10 to now 18 that’s just how it started.

Q: How did you manage your studies while playing cricket?

Anika: It wasn’t that easy, so in junior year of my high school so my 11th grade but I played in the 2023 like the inaugural U19 World Cup and for that I had to take the first half of my junior year online because it was just so much traveling. I traveled twice to Dubai that year already, there were going to be camps election camps and of course the World Cup so with that of course with my parents support we were in my school counselor’s office two or three times a week for an hour each time basically and yeah it was just a lot of convincing and of course my school did help out a lot, but yeah it was definitely not easy but I think finding the right amount of balance and prioritizing whenever you can.

I think it comes with a lot of sacrifice, knowing that cricket is just now growing in the USA so just those times where you want to relax and you want to push your homework for later instead taking the initiative to do your homework first or put your studies first and then make that free extra time and put that towards your practice towards your fitness for your cricket. I think finding that balance is really important but I think once you set a routine or if you’re adaptable that’s even better I think once you just find those little pockets of time for you to just put work into cricket and your studies I think you can get through it but it’s definitely not easy.

Q: Who are your role models?

Anika: I think in the women’s cricket game right now would be Laura Wolvaardt I just think that I mean her batting is just so mesmerizing the energy that she brings onto the field is just absolutely stunning and it’s something that I want to keep learning every time I see her.

Another would be Sindhu Sriharsha. I mean the woman’s cricket would just in California in the US in the Associate Nations it would just not be the same without her and I think that the kind of Legacy that she has, you could talk about it however many times you want but it would just never match up to the amount of effort and the amount of consistency and passion she has for the game but also growing it and I think it’s just like um like it’s not just for herself and she’s one of the most selfless people I know because she’s doing this just not for herself but for a whole community of girls and I know she’s inspired thousands and thousands of girls including myself so she was definitely be my biggest inspiration.

Also READ: An Exclusive Interview with USA captain Sindhu Sriharsha: Cricketing idol, Vision for USA team and Message for aspiring cricketers

Q: How do you manage the dual responsibility of both a wicketkeeper and a batter?

Anika: I think it’s an absolutely amazing feeling to have that responsibility in the first place. It’s something that I think wicket keeping is definitely my safe space whenever maybe batting is not in a knock or anything I think keeping is something that can always go to and it makes me feel in my zone makes me feel in control and having the responsibility being both a batter and a wicket keeper I think keeps me on my toes but I think more than that it helps me gets me get me more in the game, get more involved seeing every angle and there’s so much to learn when you’re behind the stumps seeing how the batter is playing but also how the field is kind of reacting to the situation there’s so much to learn there and as a batter seeing what I can do to manipulate the field and things like that so I think the responsibility is absolutely amazing. It’s one of the best feelings ever.

Q: How did it feel to lead the USA U19 team?

Anika: I mean being captain of the under 19 team in the West Indies in Trinidad I mean what can you say about that that’s just one of the most, hearing that phone call and knowing that I got appointed that position it was just the most humbling and it’s just very grateful I’ll hold it very close to my heart and I think it was just honestly an amazing tour and I’m just truly so blessed to be on the USA team because I think the way that our team camaraderie works we’re just like second family with each other and I think because of that it was just so amazing to work with these girls on and off the field and we’re like family to each other so I think that it was just an amazing tour lots of learning processes but yeah it was definitely very rewarding we tied that series two to two it got rained out instead of the three the five series games but yeah just an impeccable honor that I hold very close to my heart.

Q: What has been the most memorable moment in your career so far?

Anika: I think my ODI debut against PNG that we had earlier this year in April in Dubai. I think that’s got to be one of my most memorable experience not because it was just me making my debut but officially it was our whole entire team making our debut together so I think just all of us taking that big leap making our debut together hand in hand just conquering a new series, new format and just going into the series together united as a team. I think knowing that all of us are backing each other I have the backing of my team um support staff and everyone having that type of support and that feeling I think that’s very special to me and that’s what makes this team so so special, so that would be a very memorable for me.

Q: Your all-time favourite five cricketers?

Anika: Laura Wolvaardt, Alyssa Healy, Quinton de Kock, Virat Kohli and then I think Smriti Mandhana.

Watch the full interview:

Also READ: An exclusive interview with UAE’s youngest captain Natasha Cherriath: Cricketing journey, role models and vision for the future of women’s cricket

This article was first published at WomenCricket.com, a Cricket Times company.

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