Bharti Phulmali’s journey from being selected in the team with a borrowed kit to T20 World Cup

She remained out of the Indian team for seven years. She had to face online trolling regarding her appearance. But now Bharti Fulmali has brought Amravati city of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra on the map of Cricket World Cup.

She played a key role in a warm-up match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England, in which India defeated West Indies.

Bharti’s journey from the local team of Vidarbha to the World Cup was possible only through determination, continuous hard work and dedication. His journey teaches us how to reinvent ourselves.

After seven years away from the national team, Bharti reinvented herself as a lower-order batsman and finisher.

Her brilliant batting in the Women’s Premier League opened the door to the World Cup for her.

During this time, she also had to face merciless trolling on the internet, where some people made fun of her appearance. But Bharti won over everything.

To understand Bharti’s journey, we spoke to her parents.

Bharti’s mother Jyoti Fulmali feels proud of her daughter.

“I am proud to be Bharti’s mother. My Bharti has earned such a name; today people know us because of her. What else can I say? No matter how much praise I give, it will be less.”

She further says, “There would be ten boys playing and Bharti would be the only girl. But I never stopped her from playing. I would tell her, ‘Go, play. This is your future.’ “My Bharti plays very well.”

Bharti’s father Shri Krishna Fulmali says, “I am a teacher, but I have learned a lot from my daughter – humility, determination, way of speaking and most importantly, patience.”

Bharti loved sports from a very young age, but cricket was closest to her heart.

Shrikrishna Phulmali says, “Earlier we used to play cricket in the street here. When she was in fifth-sixth class, she was batting. Her shot hit the ball on a passing vehicle and its glass was broken.”

“The vehicle owner came home and started arguing. That’s when I decided that playing in the street is not right and we have to do something about it.”

After this, Shri Krishna took Bharti to the grounds of Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal of Amravati. Dinanath Nawathe used to give cricket coaching there.

At that time, there were very few cricket facilities in Amravati and there was no separate arrangement for girls.

Bharti studied in Shivkripa High School. Once, after seeing her playing, the principal told Shri Krishna that his daughter plays very well and he should do something for her.

It was decided that Bharti should be sent to the cricket camp of Gyanmata School in Amravati. To arrange his expenses, Shri Krishna had to borrow money.

At that time his family survived only on the modest salary of Shri Krishna’s private school teacher. Apart from Bharti, he had two more daughters.

Jyoti remembers those days, “Her father also did the extra work of digging wells. He felt that my daughters should not lack anything. Bharti would say, ‘I don’t want anything. Just give me the bat-ball’.”

Once Shri Krishna read in the newspaper that selection trials were being held in Amravati. They immediately put Bharti and one of her sisters on a bicycle and took them there.

The time for selection was over. Shri Krishna requested that his daughter be given a chance. The selectors gave permission, but Bharti did not have any luggage. So he borrowed bats, boots etc. from other players and somehow prepared the kit and sent Bharti to play.

As soon as coach Sandeep Gawande saw his batting, he came running to Sri Krishna and told him that his daughter had been selected for his team. From that moment Bharti’s real journey began.

Bharti started playing cricket at the age of 13 and later made her debut for the Vidarbha senior women’s team in the 2011–12 season at the age of just 17.

Because of her aggressive stroke play, some people started calling her ‘Lady Chris Gayle’ of Vidarbha.

In 2019, Bharti made her international T-20 debut for India. But she could not score much runs in the two matches of that series against England in Guwahati.

Even in the first season of WPL in 2023, no team selected him. But without getting discouraged, Bharti continued to work hard and improve her game.

Gujarat Giants selected him in 2024. Bharti played some brilliant innings in the WPL and made a comeback in the Indian T20 team in 2026.

During the South Africa tour in April, he scored 40 runs in Benoni. His consistently good performance earned him a place in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup.

At the time of selection, captain Harmanpreet said, “Bharti has performed well in domestic cricket and has proved herself. She also played well in the WPL and led her team to victory on important occasions.”

She says, “I have followed Harry didi. She is a match-winner and plays well under pressure. I also want to do the same – I want to learn how to play under pressure and how to adapt.”

Bharti is the second female cricketer representing India from Vidarbha, who played the Women’s World Cup. Before this, Mona Meshram had played in the 2017 ODI World Cup.

When Bharti’s performance was being praised in WPL, some people started trolling her about her looks. He jokingly said that she looked like a boy.

She says, “It feels very bad when people question my looks or personality. There are a lot of comments and many of them are very negative. Of course, there are good comments too, but they are few.”

Other female athletes with short hair and athletic, strong bodies face similar prejudices. Recently a BBC study also highlighted the same issue.

Bharti says she has learned to deal with such trolling and prejudice: “I discussed this with my other colleagues too. They too have to face such things. What people think is not in our hands. But we can decide what we have to do and what our point of view should be. And that is very important.”

Bharti’s parents are also saddened by trolling. Jyoti says, “People don’t understand whether she is a girl or a boy. Why do you pay attention to her personality? Look at her game, look at her talent. All I want to say to people is: don’t think bad about her and don’t look at her with prejudice.”

There came a time when father’s retirement was near and Bharti had to find a way to take care of the house. He worked in the Income Tax Department in Bengaluru and also continued practicing cricket.

When Bharti started playing, there were only one or two girls playing cricket in Amravati. His father says that now more than 200 girls are playing cricket there.

Bharti herself is helping many of them. Jyoti says that her effort is to get as many girls as possible to play.

Currently, Bharti’s dream is to play the World Cup and make India win.

Published by Collective Newsroom for the BBC.