Breaking barriers and going against the tide to achieve goals could possibly make or mar a player's career, especially when the individual hails from a humble background. But for Kerala's 24-year-old all-rounder Minnu Mani, failure was never an option, for she realised at a very young age that her ultimate goal in life was to play cricket for India, come whatever may. A tribal girl from Mananthavady in the Wayanad district in Kerala, Minnu took up cricket training when she was in 8th standard and never looked back. She traversed more than 80 kilometres on multiple bus routes to reach the nearest training facility, and would do that for six days a week. Her perseverance and passion for cricket has now landed her in the Delhi Capitals' camp, with Minnu being the only player from her state to feature in the inaugural Women's Premier League (WPL). The franchise picked her up during the auctions at a price of Rs 30 lakh. "For me, it is a really big opportunity to make my parents proud," she told PTI in an exclusive interview.

"I would like to thank the Delhi Capitals, for I am the only player from Kerala who got selected," she said. Indeed, both, the opportunity and the pay cheque would attract any young kid dreaming of playing the sport at a bigger level. But to get there, Minnu took the road less travelled, rather created one for herself and persisted on it despite facing many challenges and she even had to lie at home about having extra classes, so she could attend cricket training. "When I started playing cricket, I did not get any support from my family. They were like 'this is a men's game, you cannot play it', or, 'you can't do this'," she said. "But I started with my cricket coaching in 8th standard, and that time I used to lie about going to cricket training ¿ because they did not like me doing it. I used to lie to them about having extra classes (at school) and go for cricket practice."