Adam Gilchrist vs girls of Jesus & Mary College: The winning six won Gilly’s heart

The girls of Jesus and Mary College (JMC) had a ball playing ball with none other than former Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist, on a rainy Monday morning. Amid cheer and chants, Gilchrist’s team took to the lawns of the Australian High Commission in Delhi, to bat first in a friendly six-over-a-side match with JMC’s women’s cricket team that recently won the first Women Cricket League in Delhi University.

“It is a great time to be in sports, especially when women are being recognised more than ever around the globe,” said Gilchrist. JMC emerged winner in the close match that followed, with Arshi Choudary and Arushi Goyal proving to be star players of the match. Arshi even hit three sixes during Gilchrist’s over against her, one of which won her team the match, when they had three runs to make off the last ball. “Hitting a six against a cricketing legend like Gilchrist felt amazing. He has hit sixes against some of the biggest cricketers in the world, and now I can flaunt how I hit a six against him,” she said.

Much to her delight, Gilchrist went on to compare her winning shot to that of MS Dhoni against Sri Lanka. “Now I know what India felt winning against Sri Lanka,” he said, adding, “’Cause that was complete Dhoni stuff.”

Ragini Malhotra, coach of the JMC team was happy to see the girls play with the legend. “It is a great thing for the girls. They are the champions and playing with a champion (Gilly) is an honour that would really motivate them,” she said.

While the girls celebrated, clicked selfies and posed for pictures with Gilchrist, he went on to pep them up more with his words. “I want the girls to continue to do what they did here today. They clearly love the game, and are passionate and energetic. They were here long before this [game] started. They were training, warming up, screaming and yelling and purely enjoying. That is why I started playing the game in the first place. You have to keep reminding yourself why you chose to play. You can develop a great game around it, learn from your failures and grow as a player, that is the beauty of a team sport. But, the passion and enjoyment for the game should be retained at all times,” he said.

Gilchrist, who’s the Australian Indian Education Ambassador, also spoke about how sports and education are vital to the India-Australia bilateral ties.“My parents were both teachers and so was one of my brothers; my sister, too, was into teaching. I myself was on the path to becoming one, before cricket became my choice. I am glad my family supported my decision throughout my career and all the choices that came with it. I’m happy to have connected with education through cricket again,” he said.