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English woman cricketer smitten by Virat Kohli

Danielle Wyatt, who has played 36 ODIs and 62 T20s, said the slam-bang version is the way forward for women's cricket.

Chennai: England cricketer Danielle Wyatt had social media buzzing at the previous edition of the ICC World T20 in Bangladesh when she tweeted her love for Indian cricket’s blue-eyed boy Virat Kohli.

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The proposal — “Kohli marry me” — saw Danielle’s popularity soaring to dizzy heights and now she is one of the most recognisable faces in women’s cricket. “85 per cent of my Twitter followers are Indians,” said the 24-year-old who is in the city for the women’s World T20.

“Nothing about Kohli. Please!” Danielle made it clear that she wouldn’t want to take any questions on the flamboyant Indian batsman.

She successfully managed to evade a few indirect ones before eventually relenting. Would she like to meet Kohli during stay in India now?

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“I have met him before!” she said it with a sheepish smile. “I follow the Indian team and Kohli whenever they play international matches or the IPL. He batted brilliantly in the last T20 World Cup and the innings against South Africa in the semifinals was a very good one,” she added.

Women cricketers don’t draw crowds as big as the men’s game does. And Danielle is not complaining.

“Maria Sharapova has millions of followers because her matches come on TV frequently. She plays tournament week after week. She has big sponsors. It’s nice to have followers on social media and interact with them, but I don’t worry too much about the popularity,” she added.

Danielle, who has played 36 ODIs and 62 T20s, said the slam-bang version is the way forward for women’s cricket.

“Though earning a Test cap for England is one of my dreams, I think only T20 can attract more people to the ground. We had about 12,000 to 14,000 people turning up for the Big Bash League in Australia and it was fantastic. This year, we are going to play the English T20 Super League in some of the big grounds back home. I hope that brings a lot of crowd,” she added.

The English girl who loves Indian food said her favourite was masala tea. “It is amazing. I have it every day here. They use special spices here and I don’t get it back home,” she said.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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