Seventeen-year-old Dhanya Mikkilineni from Peachtree City, Atlanta, is spending her school break in India with a cricket ball in hand, training and bowling to some of the biggest names in women’s cricket at the ICC Women’s World Cup. The left-arm Chinaman bowler has been part of the net sessions for teams including India, South Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Australia.
“I want to play for the Delhi Capitals one day; this experience has only made that dream feel closer. Someday I would love to play at the iconic MCG in Australia as well,” says Mikkilineni, her voice steady with purpose.
Known among coaches for her deceptive spin and sharp fielding, she made an impression during her time at the nets, bowling to players like Deepti Sharma, Phoebe Litchfield, Arundhati Reddy, and Kranti Goud. “I was able to trouble some of them. Today, I got to bowl to Smriti Mandhana—that was something special,” she says.
Her admiration for Deepti Sharma runs deep. After one session, she sought advice from the Indian all-rounder. “Deepti told me I just need to keep going and the rest will follow. That meant a lot,” Mikkilineni adds.
Her journey began far from the professional nets of a World Cup. Growing up, she played gully cricket with her cousins in India, later finding inspiration in sports films such as Dear Comrade and Shabaash Mithu. Those moments, she says, were when cricket shifted from pastime to passion.
Mikkilineni has since built a steady record through the USA Cricket Junior Pathway system and the National Women’s Cricket League. Now, training in Indian conditions, she’s treating this stint as both a challenge and an education. “It’s been a huge learning curve. The pace, the conditions, the talent around me—it’s all pushing me to be better every day,” she says.
A student of McIntosh High School in Peachtree City, she shares her campus with other Australian Indian origin students, Aahana Gupta and Arayna Gupta. Her teachers and friends back home are following her progress with growing pride.
For Dhanya, this World Cup experience isn’t just about rubbing shoulders with international stars. It’s a glimpse of what might one day be possible—a future where she steps out not as a net bowler, but as a player under the bright lights of the MCG.
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