WPL 2024: Who is Sajeevan Sajana? Mumbai Indians player who smashed match-winning six on last ball

Sajeevan Sajana gave the second season of Women’s Premier League (WPL) the perfect start with a last-ball winning six for Mumbai Indians in the opener against Delhi Capitals on Friday. Chasing 172, Mumbai Indians lost captain Harmanpreet Kaur (55) on the penultimate ball with five more needed from the final delivery. Just when the game looked done and dusted, Sajana slammed Alice Capsey for a massive six on the last ball to guide MI to a thrilling 4-wicket win.

Who is Sajeevan Sajana?

Sajana is an all-rounder who hails from Mananthavady in Wayanad, Kerala.

She went unsold in the WPL 2023 auction, but was picked by Mumbai in WPL 2024 auction for INR 10 lakh.

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Sajana’s father Sajeevan is an auto rickshaw driver and her mother Sarada Sajeevan is a municipality councillor, according to a report in The News Minute. In fact the report adds that Sajana is the second player from the Kurichiya tribe, a tribal community in Kerala’s Wayanad, to play in WPL after Minnu Mani.

Just like most of the women cricketers, Sajana started by playing with boys in their neighbourhood. She wasn’t aware of women’s cricket till she turned 18.

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Sajana’s cricket started by playing with plastic bat and coconut petiole and the game remained a mode of entertainment for her until a physical education teacher asked her to take up cricket seriously.

“When I was doing my higher secondary education in the Government Vocational Higher Secondary School Mananthavady, there was a sporting event called cricket ball throwing. I was good at that and my physical education teacher, Elsamma, asked me to try cricket. Then only did I become aware there were women cricketers, and we can play it district-wise and state-wise, and we can also play for India,” she told TNM.

She started playing for district team in 2012, earning INR 150 per day which kept her motivated, eventually leading to her professional journey.

Sajana is a right-handed batter who can bowl off-spin and has led Kerala under-23 team to T20 Super League title in 2019. She was also declared the women cricketer of the year in 2015 and 2017 from Kerala Cricket Association.

In the 2023 Senior Women’s T20 Trophy 2023, she scored 134 runs in seven innings and took six wickets.