From rescue knock against Sri Lanka to crucial wicket of Phoebe Litchfield, winning runs in semifinal to the all-important catch of South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt in the final, Amanjot Kaur has been a star performer for India in their Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 triumph. The ever-so-confident Amanjot before the final revealed that she hid her injury from family, telling them that she was at high-performance camp. After the final, her father, Bhupinder Singh, revealed that the family hid the news of her grandmother suffering heart attack.
“My mother Bhagwanti has been Amanjot’s pillar of strength since the day she started playing cricket outside on the street and the park at our Phase 5 residence in Mohali. While I would be at my carpentry shop at Balongi, she would make sure to sit outside the home or at the park to oversee Amanjot playing with the boys as well as other girls. After she suffered a heart attack last month, we did not tell Amanjot about it and the last few days have seen us spending time in hospitals for her treatment. The World Cup win has surely come as a balm in these tense times for us,” Singh told The Indian Express.
In the final, Amanjot could not do much with bat or ball but she was electrifying in the field. She saved boundaries, converted twos into ones, helping the bowlers keep the pressure on South Africa batters in the run chase. In the 42nd over, she held on to Wolvaardt's catch in the deep despite fumbling at first.
Bhupinder, his wife Ranjeet Kaur, the all-rounder's siblings Kamaljot Kaur and Gurkirpal Singh have been taking turns to oversee the health of their grandmother. He is sure when she regains her strength, it will be followed by celebrations.
“My mother is the biggest supporter for Amanjot and once she gets well, she will make sure that Amanjot is showered with all the love and the win is celebrated,” Singh said.
How Amanjot met her coach and everything that followed
Amanjot's father recalled how a neighbour suggested him to take her to one of the academies in Chandigarh. She was enrolled in a government school where they met coach Nagesh Gupta who shaped the pace-bowling all-rounder's future.
“When I met Nagesh sir, he told me to send Amanjot to the government school ground in Sector 32. I would take extra work at my shop or private work too so that I could give Amanjot whatever she needed for her training and would also pick her and drop her to the academy in Chandigarh from Mohali. Later, we got her a scooty and she would tell me, Papa chinta chi karni. Main vaddi ho gai han (Papa, don’t worry, I am a grown up now),” recalls Singh.
Gupta recalled how he was impressed with her wrist position and follow-through. He suggested a few changes to improve her consistency. During one of the net session, he identified that she can bat as well.
“When she came to the academy for the first time, I was impressed by her follow through and wrist position. She had a good run-up too and would keep her arms close during the run-up. But her bowling was a bit erratic. So we worked with spot bowling and made minor changes in her wrist position and changed the position of her leg which was falling wider off the stumps. During that time one, I saw her batting once in the nets and the bat punch off the ball was very good. So I knew that she could become an all-rounder. She did not hesitate to train. And that helped early in her career,” Gupta told the English daily.
Amanjot’s meteoric rise and setback due to injury
Amanjot made her name in UT Cricket Association (UTCA) Chandigarh in 2019 and make her name in the BCCI One-Day Trophy in 2019-20 season. Her good run continued in the BCCI under-23 tournaments in both white-ball formats. It led to India A call-up and she made her Women's Premier League (WPL) debut for Mumbai Indians (MI). In 2023, she made her debut in international cricket. A back stress injury and a hand ligament injury kept her out of action for eight months but she made a comeback and became a member of World Champion team at 25 years of age.