STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI: Flight Lt Shikha Pandey, a member of the Indian women cricket team, was on Tuesday felicitated by Indian Air Force chief B.S Dhanoa for her sterling performance at the recent World Cup.
Pandey was awarded the Chief of the Air Staff Commendation by Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa for her performance at the recently concluded ICC Women World Cup, the IAF said.
The Indian women cricket team finished runner-up, losing to England narrowly by nine runs. However, the teams magnificent performance to reach the finals won laurels from all quarters.
Flt. Lt. Pandey had taken three wickets against South Africa and two wickets against England in league matches. In the semi-final against Australia, she had two scalps for 17 runs.
She was commissioned in the IAF on June 30, 2012 as an air traffic control officer.
The IAF said she is the first lady officer from the services to represent the Indian women cricket team.
After her selection in the Air Force, work hours left little time for much else. Although she couldn’t become an Air Force pilot, she is an ATC officer-a demanding job with a lot of responsibility.
There was a possibility of her not being able to play cricket again. But it wasn’t quite the end.
She was a bit apprehensive but got all the support from the Services Sports Control Board and the Air Force Sports Control Board. Although Services continued to field their men’s team in the Ranji Trophy, there were no provisions for a woman player – Shikha was the first for Services.
Speaking about her most memorable experience, Shikha says, “Hitting the winning runs together with Mithali Raj against England in one of the tests that we played at Wormsley, England, in August, was an amazing experience.
Also, my five-wicket haul against Haryana in the one-day tournament and a 56 ball 73 against Jharkhand in the T-20 tournament are some of the moments I’ll always cherish.”
