The soil of Chandigarh has given Indian cricket Kapil Dev, then Yuvraj Singh, and now new stars are emerging in women’s cricket.
Behind this story, one name has been quietly working hard: coach Nagesh Gupta. Without much fanfare, he has nurtured two all-rounders who have now made their mark at the international level: Amanjot Kaur and Kashvee Gautam.
For Nagesh Gupta, Kapil Dev is not just a name, but a childhood dream. He was determined to give India a true all-rounder, but over time, he has produced two world-class players.
Inspired by Kapil Dev, a coach’s dream
In a conversation with TimesofIndia.com, Nagesh Gupta clearly stated, “Kapil Dev is like a hero for me. When we started watching cricket, there were only two names that even our parents used to talk about – Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar.”
In 2016, Amanjot and Kashvee, just four or five days apart, came to Nagesh for training. Both were his first female students. Initially, both were fast bowlers, but Nagesh quickly understood that batting was equally important for their progress.
He said, “We realized over time that batting is very important. At that time, India did not have many all-rounders, so the perspective was to develop the all-round game that would help them in the long run.”
Hard work, injuries, and comebacks
Being a fast-bowling all-rounder is not easy. Amanjot had to battle a back injury, while Kashvee was sidelined for months due to a serious knee injury. When Kashvee was making her comeback before the WPL 2026, Nagesh dedicated extra time to train her.
Nagesh said, “I used to call her at a different time than the usual academy hours so that I could fully focus on her.”
The intensity was gradually increased so that she could become fully match-ready. Special attention was also given to their batting, especially keeping T20 cricket in mind. Kashvee’s inswing has always been a strong point in her bowling, but now she’s hitting the ball harder into the pitch, giving the batter less time to react. Nagesh explained, “If you hit the deck hard, the batter has less time to react.”
There are also plans to modify the bowling actions of both players to reduce the risk of injury. Amanjot has already won a World Cup, and Kashvee has made a strong comeback after her injury. Indian cricket has high hopes for both of them in the coming years.
