One More Ball: The Mindset Behind Sree Charani’s Rise

At the end of India’s net session at the Nursery Ground at Lord’s, India spinner Sree Charani was taking throwdowns. My colleague Snehasis Mukherjee and I have attended as many practice sessions as possible and, more often than not, we have been the only journalists present. One thing we have repeatedly observed is just how seriously Charani takes her batting. So, seeing her stay behind for extra throwdowns was hardly a surprise.

What stood out, however, was what happened next.

Nearly five to seven minutes after the session had officially ended, Charani was still batting. Even when a member of the Indian support staff asked her to return to the dressing room, she kept pleading for just one more delivery. “Aur ek ball. Ma’am, aap jao. Aap jaate jaate hum khel ke aa jayenge. (One more ball, ma’am. You go, and by the time you get there, we’ll finish and come.)”

That brief exchange said everything about Charani’s attitude towards the game. Whether it is her former Delhi Capitals coach Lisa Keightley or her India team-mate and Delhi Capitals captain Jemimah Rodrigues, everyone who has worked closely with her has spoken glowingly about her work ethic.

Charani is currently the world’s No. 1 T20I bowler and is arguably enjoying the best phase of her young career. Yet the one thing success has not changed is her insatiable hunger to improve, whether it is her batting, bowling or fielding.

Lisa Keightley summed up that mindset perfectly during a viral Instagram Reel released during the Women’s Premier League in 2025. “She’ll come back, and she’ll go, ‘Lisa, one more, one more ball.’ Does it for about 20 minutes.”

Back then, Charani was only beginning to establish herself, and her desire to improve was understandable. Since then, she has enjoyed a successful ICC Women’s ODI World Cup in 2025, become one of Rodrigues’ most trusted bowlers at Delhi Capitals, finished as the leading wicket-taker at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 and climbed to the top of the ICC T20I bowling rankings.

The remarkable part, however, is that her attitude has not changed one bit.
Every day at training, she makes time for a separate catching session with India’s fielding coach, Munish Bali. Before Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma even begin batting, Charani already has her pads, gloves, helmet and bat laid out beside the nets, almost as if she is reminding both herself and the coaches that she refuses to be defined only as a bowler. She then gets through an extended bowling routine, often spending close to half an hour on spot bowling before moving into the nets. Only after that does she settle down for batting. Over the past year, the writer has hardly seen this routine change.

Before the third T20I of India’s series against England in Taunton, the writer asked Rodrigues during the pre-match press conference to describe what makes “Cherry”, as the team affectionately calls Charani, so special. Rodrigues smiled before revealing that Charani is almost never satisfied with the amount of work she puts in. “She’ll come and say, ‘Sir, two overs.’ It ends up being 24 overs every practice session because she’s never satisfied.”

That conversation took place before the T20 World Cup. Since then, Charani has become one of the biggest success stories in women’s cricket, but watching her train, little seems to have changed. The accolades may have arrived, but so has the same determination to become better every single day.

In elite sport, talent can take a player only so far. Sustained success belongs to those who continue chasing improvement long after others have stopped. Watching Sree Charani ask for “one more ball” after everyone else had packed up was a timely reminder that greatness is built not only on match days but also in those quiet moments when nobody is watching. One hopes she never loses that fire because, if her attitude remains unchanged, there is every reason to believe her biggest achievements are still ahead.

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