Former Australian woman cricketer Lisa Sthalekar who is nowadays providing us with her invaluable analysis of the ongoing matches in the ICC women’s T20 World Cup, was a well known player during the prime of her career. Having retired from the sport, she is now acknowledged as one of the leading commentators and analysts of the game.
But Lisa is not her original name. When she was born her name was Laila. How she became Lisa from Laila and how her fate transported her from an orphanage in India to the top echelons of Australian cricket is a story that is akin to a children’s fairytale like Cinderella.
Born in Pune
Laila was born in Pune, India, in 1979. Since her biological parents were impoverished and were unable to support her, they placed her at an orphanage named Shreevatsa. The orphanage was attached to the well known Sassoon Hospital in Pune.
It so happened that an Indian man who was residing in the USA, named Haren Sthalekar and his American wife Sue visited the orphanage with the aim of adopting a child. They already had a biological daughter and so they initially wanted to adopt a little boy to complete their family.
However they could not find a baby boy who was of the right age. Becoming despondent they were about to leave the building when one of the caretakers suggested that they could take a look at a little girl named Laila who was a girl but was in the age group that they wanted.
After spending a few minutes with Laila, the lady Sue Sthalekar became convinced that this child was the right one for them and decided to adopt her. The couple completed all the legal formalities and renamed Laila as Lisa.
They took the child with them to the USA where the couple was residing then. After a few years, Haren’s work took him to Sydney, Australia where they settled down after gaining Australian citizenship.
Grew up in Australia
Lisa began to grow up in Sydney and was introduced to cricket by her sports loving father. Even when she was a child, it became clear that she had a talent for timing her shots, using her feet and playing the game well. “Cricket seems to run in the blood of all Indians,” her father commented on one occasion after seeing her skills.
Lisa was admitted to a primary school named Cherrybrook Public School and played cricket for West Pennant Hills Cherrybrook Cricket Club. She later obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sydney University.
But along with her studies, her cricket career was advancing at a rapid pace. After playing for Australia at the juniors levels, she was selected to represent the senior Australian team in 2001 and made her international debut in an ODI match. The next year she was selected for Australia’s Test team and began a slow but steady rise to the top.
Her achievements
On two occasions she was a member of Australia’s World Cup winning teams. She was the first to score 1000 runs and take 100 wickets in women’s ODI tournaments. But the crowning moment of her career came when she was appointed captain of Australia. Twice she was awarded the Belinda Clark award which is given to the best Australian woman cricketer every year.
In Australian women’s cricket she has become a legendary name. However, all this has happened because destiny guided her life in the right direction when she was a baby.
If she had not been adopted from the orphanage then her potential would never have been fulfilled. Even now there may be so many children growing up in orphanages across the country who may have great talent in them to become famous sportspersons, writers, artists , doctors or lawyers. But in most cases they will not get the opportunity that Lisa did. Cases like hers happen perhaps once in a century.
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