Uma Chetry

Indian cricket has witnessed several inspiring stories of players rising from modest beginnings to the highest stage, and Uma Chetry is a shining example of this narrative. Hailing from Bokakhat, a small village in Assam, she grew up in a humble household where her father worked as a farmer. Cricket entered her life through playful games alongside her brothers, and what began as a pastime gradually grew into her passion.

When district-level trials for girls were announced in a nearby village, Uma seized the opportunity and quickly caught the eye of selectors. Initially trying her hand at bowling, she was encouraged by her coach to take up wicketkeeping, a role no one else had volunteered for. The switch turned out to be a turning point, as her sharp reflexes and natural agility behind the stumps immediately set her apart.

Her path, however, was anything but smooth. A dip in form during her teenage years saw her overlooked for the Assam state team, not even making the reserves at one point. Instead of giving up, she doubled down on her efforts, steadily rebuilding her reputation with consistent performances in domestic cricket and for India A. Persistence paid off when she was named in India’s T20I and ODI squads for the Bangladesh tour in July 2023. Though she had to wait nearly a year for her debut, the long wait ended in Chennai where she made her first international appearance in a T20I against South Africa.

Uma Chetry’s Women’s T20 League journey began with UP in 2024, when fortune unexpectedly smiled on her. She went unsold at the auction, but an injury to Vrinda Dinesh opened the door for her to join the squad as a replacement. That season, she made only a single appearance, but the following year proved to be transformative. In 2025, with Alyssa Healy sidelined for the entire tournament due to injury, Uma stepped up as UP’s first-choice wicketkeeper and featured in every game of the campaign.

Just as in her Women’s T20 League foray, where opportunity arose through unexpected circumstances, fortune favored Uma again in 2025. Initially named only among the standbys for the ODI World Cup, she was drafted into the main squad after Yastika Bhatia suffered an injury during the preparatory camp.