'I Am Made For This Stage' - How Late Bloomer Nazma Khan Manifested Her Way To The Top

(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS) Nazma Khan's cricketing career has been one of slow, stubborn blooming. She spent six years warming the bench in Delhi's age-group sides, drifted through two other states in search of regular game time, and only truly announced herself in the Delhi set-up in her late 20s.

At 30, she was still waiting for a Women's Premier League (WPL) call after not finding any takers in the last two auctions. On October 28, as the WPL 2027 mini-auction played out in Kochi, Nazma was with Delhi for the Senior Women's T20 Trophy league stage when her name came, but found no interest from five franchises, even as she got a net bowling request from Gujarat Giants (GG).

"Actually, I saw a little bit of the starting half. After that, we had a team meeting, so I couldn't see after that. I saw it when my name came on the screen for the first time. Then after that, someone didn't raise the paddle up and I was a little disappointed. So I went back to my room. After that, I didn't see the auction. I was disappointed and I went to my room.

“I started talking to one of my sirs. I told him, 'Sir, I am feeling very disappointed.' So then sir was motivating me. He said, 'Koi ni Nazma. Part of life hai. Part of journey hai (No worries Nazma, it's a part of life and journey).' Ups and downs will keep happening. You have to keep going. I said yes sir.

"Then all of a sudden, I got a text from GG about net bowling. I was a little surprised along with the feeling of disappointment. Then I told my sir that I got a message for net bowling. Sir said, 'Haan kar do (You say yes to them).' I replied to them that I am available for net bowling,” recalled Nazma to IANS, in a select virtual interaction.

But in the accelerated round, Delhi Capitals signed her for Rs 10 lakh, and Nazma was overwhelmed. "Then all of a sudden, the bell started ringing in my room. The room started knocking loudly. When I went there, my mates told me that my name came up. For a while, I couldn't believe that my name came up.

“I was surprised - it is such a feeling that at that time, I can say that I was feeling-less. I didn't know how to express this feeling. But then I started crying. I was very happy about this. Then I told my sir that finally, my name came up," she added.

Jemimah Rodrigues, India batter and Delhi Capitals skipper, opened her Instagram to welcome her new team-mate, but found a message Nazma had sent nearly a year ago. "I know you won't even see this message but one day i'll going to share the same platform with you and will be doing batting with you and will going to make our team win and i'll make you open your instagram to show you this message," it read.

Jemimah posted a screenshot on her story: "Opened Instagram just now to text Nazma and stumbled upon a message from her a year ago. One year later, the manifestation is real. Welcome to the family.” DC reshared it with the caption,“Reminder that manifestation works. Keep trying. Never stop believing. It will all work out in the end.”

Nazma had sent that message after watching Jemimah's unbeaten 127 help eventual champions India chase down 339 against Australia in the 2025 ODI World Cup semi-final. "That match was so inspiring for me. Actually, I watched the whole match sitting there. The way Jemi managed the team and played a responsible inning in such a pressure situation.

“Australia is the best team till now and I felt the most connection when she was not able to perform in all the league matches and out of runs and little bit out of confidence. But when I saw that match, I felt that I have to do the same for my team (like how Jemimah did). Like I bat in the middle order and lower order and I feel that a player who gets the game in favour of her team and finishes the game well.

“So I had a feeling that I have to do something like this because I could connect with my role for that particular time period. When India won that match, I posted a story immediately on social media. I don't usually stay active on social media and then I posted a story about Jemi.

"Then I messaged that I also want to play on this stage. I also want to play among these players. I also want to win matches for my team and I know that I am made for this stage. So, I messaged (her) with this intention that no matter what, I will also play on this stage. One day, I will play among these players and I will also win matches for my team by playing the finishers role," she explained.

The pair have since chatted and met as opponents during the Delhi-Mumbai clash in Pune. If the wait was long, the bloom has been emphatic. Nazma was the leading wicket-taker as Delhi won last season's Senior Women's One Day Trophy, taking 24 scalps at 15.62, and topped the Inter Zonal T20 Trophy charts with 12 wickets for North Zone.

With the bat, she made 106 runs at a strike rate of 120.5 in the last Senior Women's T20 Trophy and 267, including an unbeaten 126, in the 2024/25 one-day season. In August this year, Nazma's 12 wickets earned her the Purple Cap as North Delhi Strikers won the women's Delhi Premier League (DPL).

Nazma's sporting roots go back to a father who played kabaddi and cricket in college. Growing up in Delhi, Nazma cycled, played football, trained with boxers and was the only girl in her block who played with the boys.

After a summer camp at the National Stadium, she began as a medium-pacer at the RPCA Academy before switching to left-arm spin. Cricket scholarships carried her through her graduation and a master's degree at Gargi College. Nazma also starred in the all-India university final win over Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) in Mysuru. When neighbours asked if she earned anything, her parents simply said she played - their only condition was that she never break their trust.

The road from there was anything but smooth. A move to Nagaland, as a pure batter at her father's insistence, brought her U23 and senior debut and a knock of 121 that was then the state's highest score, before a guest player registration dispute cost her a season.

After a year with Uttarakhand, Nazma returned to Delhi, only to be kept out by an accident and selection calls. But watching Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah go about their business from the dugout taught her how games unfold, and Nazma gradually forced her way into the playing eleven.

The inaugural women's DPL in 2024 was the turning point for Nazma. Playing in broadcast matches for the first time, with WPL scouts keeping a close watch, Nazma won the head coach's trust and places in both Delhi white-ball sides.

Along the way, she has leaned on a chain of coaches, none more than Mayank Raghav, a former Ranji Trophy batter who hit 228 on debut for Manipur in 2018/19. His six-hitting clips on Instagram prompted her to send him a direct message.

"My cricket journey started with RPCA Academy. There, Surjeet sir and Ajay sir were present and from the start, they have always supported me a lot. Then, when I started playing my board matches, I met Dishant Yagnik sir. He was the mentor in my cricket journey. He helped me improve a lot in terms of my skills, which helped me in my batting.

"Then, for the past 3 years, I have been following him. I get irritated because I keep asking him the same thing repetitively. So, he has supported me a lot. Then, when my journey in DPL began, one day, I saw a video of Mayank Raghav sir of six-hitting on Instagram. Then, after DPL, I understood that, 'Nazma, thoda chakke maarna seekhna hoga (I will have to learn about how to hit sixes).' Actually, I was only able to work on video calls with Dishant Yagnik sir.

"So, I wanted an individual person to work with me in Delhi. When I saw his video on Instagram of six-hitting, I texted him. I texted him in my first season. I told him that I also want to learn six-hitting from him and how effortlessly you do it. When I sent him some of my videos, he told me that I was doing well. He gave me a time to meet him, wherein I met him and then, we started our sessions,” she said.

Raghav, who was visibly emotional on Instagram after her WPL selection, has been a huge blessing for Nazma. "The most important thing is that Mayank sir is a person who gives me so much time. He puts so much effort into me. Mentally, he gives me an everyday perspective on things. Like, how a game is played. I have learnt from him how cricket actually is.

“I have never seen such a passionate person in my life who feels about cricket in that way. When I listen to him, see him in person, learn from him how he bats effortlessly – I see it all. For the past 2-3 years, he has been working with me and I feel that if he wasn't my in-person mentor, I don't know if I would have been able to reach here. He knows me inside out and explains everything to me.

“But he never makes me feel that I am not the best. He always tells me that I am just about to do it and you will do it. When my auction was going on, I was talking to Mayank sir and told him that my name didn't appear. But even then, he was motivating me. I always share everything about me - even the smallest of details - and my day-to-day life with him.

“If I am worried about anything, whether it is cricket or off-cricket, I talk to him and feel very relaxed. I felt that I should have a mentor like him. He is a very positive person. I have started being a little positive with him. Before that, I didn't understand so much about myself. But when I started understanding about myself, he started explaining the importance of this platform to me.

“He told me that these days will be very valuable and you don't know when these days will come and go. So, live every day along with playing. When we were talking that day (after the WPL selection happened), it was a very emotional moment because I know that he has been a very good player in his life. He played Ranji Trophy and made 200 runs in his debut match.

“Sir has told me all the stories of his journey. It is very inspiring for me that I told him that I will play and fulfill your dream of playing for India. I told him that I just don't want to play. I want to stay there consistently and dominate. So, it was a very emotional moment for sir as well," elaborated Nazma.

Nazma draws inspiration from Ellyse Perry's all-round commitment and keeps no pre-match rituals. At home, whenever she brings a trophy or medal back, her mother gives her a peck, then to the silverware, and places it beside the Quran Sharif. Relatives who once frowned at her wearing shorts now congratulate her, and many want their daughters to follow her path.

Seeing her parents build their lives from scratch has left her with an immense sense of responsibility towards them. Nazma hopes to become an idol rather than follow one, and at 30 insists contribution, not age, is what counts in cricket.

After quickly thanking well-wishers so that her silence wasn't mistaken for ego, Nazma handed her Instagram handling duties to her manager. Doing well for Delhi is Nazma's immediate priority, with the Super League stage of the Senior Women's T20 Trophy starting in Ahmedabad on Saturday.

Bigger stages and brighter lights await Nazma in the months ahead. For now, she and those who have stood by her all these years can savour seeing the hard work and dedication finally pay off. Nazma's climb to the top was 12 years in the making, but it feels like this late bloomer's story has only just begun.

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