Back in 2020, Chandigarh’s Kashvee Gautam rose to prominence as a 16-year-old, bagging all 10 wickets against Arunachal Pradesh in the Women’s U-19 One-Day Trophy in Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh. By then she had already played three years for Punjab U-19, having made her debut at the age of 13. The youngster has a knack of standing tall among the crowd, and on Saturday, she once again stole the limelight by fetching a whopping Rs 2 crore from the Gujarat Giants after a fierce bidding war at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction.

Kashvee saw an intense bidding war between UP Warriorz and Gujarat Giants for her services before the latter went all out with a bid of Rs 2 crore, the highest for an uncapped Indian player, overtaking Karnataka’s Vrindra Dinesh, who was earlier sold to the Warriorz for Rs 1.3 crore.

This is obviously a life-changing moment for her, she was indeed very happy. More than the money, it’s the kind of exposure she’s going to get in that dressing room that will help her carry a lifetime of memories,” her childhood coach Nagesh Gupta of Chandigarh told The Statesman.

Gupta, under whom Kashvee came as a 14-year-old, said he witnessed an instant spark in the youngster, and that she has matured more than her age as time passed by.

“Now that she will be rubbing shoulders with the best in the business, the overseas players, it will add a lot more dimensions to her overall character as a cricketer. Also the experience of playing under pressure as most WPL games go down the wire, it will help her in the long run when she finally plays for India, or in domestic cricket,” Gupta added.

A tall hit-the-deck bowler, Kashvee, who idolizes Jhulan Goswami, has worked on her pace based on feedback given by scouts after last year’s WPL auction where she went unsold. She has always left her mark on the field with consistent performances in domestic cricket.

But the turning point for Kashvee came when Amanjot Kaur shifted back to Punjab two seasons back, leaving the Chandigarh captaincy vacant. At that time, the management at the UT Cricket Association decided to give Kashvee the responsibility, and the right-arm pacer did not look behind since.

At the senior Women’s T20 Trophy, she picked up 12 wickets in seven games at an economy of 4.14. In June, she was part of India’s triumphant Under-23 squad at the ACC Emerging tournament in Hong Kong. More recently, she was part of two games during the A series, picking up three wickets for India A.

Kashvee was visibly elated by the hefty price tag, but the youngster is excited at the prospect of finally making it to the WPL after doing the hard yards following the snub in the inaugural season’s auction.

“This is huge, this was sort of unexpected, I’m really happy. At the same time, I’ll have to bear in mind that such tags come with greater responsibility and one must consistently keep performing to live up to the billing,” Kashvee said.

“Yes, captaining the Chandigarh side helped me keep the team’s responsibility first while also focusing on my individual performance. To be honest, I was initially a bit hesitant but gradually started gaining confidence,” she added.

Crediting her childhood coaches, Sanjay Dhull (former Punjab Ranji Trophy cricketer) and Nagesh Gupta, Kashvee said, “I would not have been the cricketer that I’m without the support of Sanjay sir and Nagesh sir. They have been instrumental in shaping my career. I will forever be grateful for the confidence they gave me when I started my journey.”

Born to a property dealer, Sudesh Kumar in Chandigarh, Kashvee also appreciated her parent’s support throughout her career, and fondly remembers the one-liner that her parents told when she expressed her interest in the sport. “Jo bhi karna pure shiddat se karo, (Whatever you do, dedicate your heart and soul to it),” Kashvee said before signing off even as her several other callers were waiting on the other side to congratulate the youngster.