Meet Manav & Anika, Indian-origin cricket-playing siblings inspired by Australia cricketers Mitchell Starc & Ellyse Perry

• Shubham
• 13 April, 2023

Follow Us

By: Shubham Ghosh

Manav Shah and his Anika are both cricket lovers and the two Indian-origin siblings are not inspired by any Indian cricket icon but by a pair of Australia cricketers — Mitchell Starc and Elysse Perry.

Fourteen-year-old Manav has been playing the sport since he was seven and it was watching the left-arm seamer play at the Sydney Cricket Ground that inspired him to become a cricketer. Like Starc, Manav, too, is a fast bowler but uses the other hand. And like Starc, he too is a decent bat.

According to a report by The Australia Today, Manav goes to Endeavour Sports High School, a sport’s selective school for cricket programme in Sydney. The teenager also appears for the St George area under 16 Green Shield in the city.

“I started pursuing cricket because of a game my parents took me to. It was the first cricket game I had watched in my life. I immediately fell in love with it, especially with Australia’s fast left handed (just like me) opening bowler Mitchell Starc, he has forever been my favourite cricketer,” he was quoted as saying by The Australia Today.

Manav also said that his goal in cricket is to work his way up with determination, skill and hard work and wants to eventually represent his country in all formats of the game.

But Manav is not alone in his mission. His 11-year-old sister also picked up the game two years ago and plays mixed cricket with girls and boys on Saturday mornings and girls only on Saturday afternoons, the news outlet reported.

On Sunday mornings, Anika plays representative Cricket for Sutherland/St George and has been recently picked for the Sydney East Team for girls cricket state tournament.

And like Manav, Anika is also inspired by an Australia cricketer and it is Elysse Perry who bowls fast medium and can be considered an all-rounder.

“I watched my brother play cricket and I enjoyed watching him play. He’s been my inspiration. My goal is to play cricket at the highest level. My favourite women cricketer is Ellyse Perry,” she told The Australia Today.