Diana Edulji
This Mumbai-born former Indian women’s cricket team captain is regarded as the greatest Indian women cricketer of all time. She was the captain of the Indian women’s team for 3 years when very few believed it as a serious career option.
She was actually drawn to sports at an early age. Diana grew up playing cricket with a tennis ball in the railway colony where she lived. She then went on to play basketball and table tennis at the junior national level, before moving into cricket. At a cricket camp hosted by former Test cricketer Lala Amarnath, ‘ she honed her skills.
At that time, women’s cricket was becoming more popular in India. Diana then played for the Railways and then the Indian national cricket team where she was a successful slow left-arm orthodox bowler. She played her first series in 1975. In 1978, she was made the captain of the team. With 120 wickets, she remains the highest wicket taker of the game. Diana received India’s then greatest sports honour award, the Arjuna Award in 1983. The Government of India even awarded her the civilian honour of Padma Shri in 2002.