The woman in MS Dhoni's cricket world

The women’s national cricket team captain of Singapore G.K. Diviya will closely work with M.S. Dhoni at his newly-launched cricket academy in Singapore. India’s legendary wicket-keeper, who already has established his first academy in Dubai, now plans to launch branches across the world. What’s more, Dhoni also plans to organise international matches and series between the academies once they come to life.

Speaking exclusively from Singapore, 32-year-old Diviya shares, “Our discussions with Dhoni focused on setting up an institution that would focus on the holistic development of a child. Quite often, when kids reach their teenage years, it becomes a trade-off between sports and studies but we believe that both can co-exist and help each other. Our aim is to use the medium of cricket to focus on character development, leadership skills and developing a winning mindset that can be applicable to all walks of life and if they choose to persist with cricket, all the more better.”

Stating that Dhoni was more than happy to partner with her, she further says, “I think in this day and age, gender and other such factors cease to be of much importance. At the end of the day, our focus is on cricket. What matters is skill, talent, passion, intent and effort. As cricketers, we need to practise consistently to improve every aspect of the game and as coaches we need to know how to pass on these skills and qualities and be able to add value to the cricketers we coach.”

Cricket in the island city
The sport of cricket is not as popular in Singapore, or even Southeast Asia, which is why Diviya feels having such an influential cricketer’s academy there would make a big difference. 
“People will start trying the sport and it’s our job to make them fall in love with it and make them believe that this sport can take them places. It’s all about getting the game out there and spreading the cricket fever. Cricket has had a big impact in our lives and we are what we are because of this sport. The least we can do is to give back to it,” says the cricketer, who will be managing the academy with two male cricketers of Singapore, Chetan Suryavanshi and Chaminda Ruwan.

When the CEO of Academia 7, Josh Ghosh, who represents Dhoni, got in touch with them, the trio came up with the dynamics of how the academy would run in Singapore. “We shared it with Dhoni and his team. They were quite happy with our plan,” mentions Diviya. 

Determined to make the game popular among kids, she says, “Chetan and I will run the academy here. We will oversee the whole M.S. Dhoni Cricket Academy and make sure our curriculum is run efficiently and that all cricketers in our academy improve. The children and parents have to see a significant improvement in the child’s game. Chetan and I would also look at giving the top batter, bowler and fielder of the academy a sponsorship.”  Interestingly, all the cricket equipment for the academy will be custom-made under the academy’s brand name. “We want to give every cricketer the opportunity to get to greater heights and we want to provide them with the best services in every way possible. We as cricketers didn’t get such opportunities. Hence we want to help, guide and give such opportunities. At the end, cricket should be the winner,” expresses the international champ.

A world-class player
While Diviya’s parents are Singaporeans, her grandfather hails from an Indian island called Srirangam, situated in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu. Born and brought up in Singapore, Diviya pursued a bachelor’s degree in clinical science and today, she has become the first woman cricketer in Singapore to play in the men’s league internationally and the first woman to play first-class cricket overseas.