WPL: RCB's Renuka Singh reveals her parents 'mad' obsession with cricket

India Women pacer Renuka Singh has taken giant strides in international cricket after making her debut in October 2021. The 27-year-old has picked a total of 18 wickets in the seven ODI matches she has played till date, While in the T20Is - the Shima-born star has 24 scalps in 28 matches to her name.

Renuka's career is set to take another glaring turn as she is now part of the very famous Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) francise in the inaugural season of the Women's Premier League (WPL) which is slated to kick off from March 4. In the historic WPL auction on Monday, she was picked by RCB for a whopping amount of Rs 1.50 crore.

The telented player has now opened up on her parents obsession with cricket. In a conversation on JioCinema’s new daily show '#AAKASHVANI,’ hosted by Aakash Chopra. Renuka Singh revealed how her mother cries whenever India lose a match.

"If my mood remains sad, then my mother's mood also remains sad. For me, at least, I've got to win the matches for my mom because after we lose, she begins to cry. So, before every match, I always tell Smriti that please we have to win the match at any cost, as I have to win the match for my mom. My mom just wants the team to win the matches; she doesn't care whether her daughter is playing or not; she just wants us to win the match, and that's it. Recently, I brought her to watch the match against Australia, and we lost the first match, so she started saying, You have lost! and started crying. I was like, If you do like this, please go home. After that, she again started to lecture me, and I just told her to go to sleep. Then, for the next match, Harry (Harmanpreet Kaur) said we had to win the next match, and I was like, Please or else my mom will again start crying. I have so much pressure that I have to win the match for my mom," Renuka, who is currently in South Africa for the Women's T20 World Cup, said.

Renuka further elaborated how her brother was named 'Vinod’ after former cricketer Vinod Kambli by her father who loved cricket and dreamt of his children becoming cricketers.

Renuka's father was a cricket buff, named son after Vindo Kambli

“When I grew up, I started asking my mom about my father, and other people also used to tell the story, so my mom used to tell me that he was a huge fan of cricket and also had a dream that one of his children should represent India at any cost. Also, whenever there was a match, he used to switch off his phone and watch the match with his friends, and he did not get up from that one position for the whole match. He didn't always come home on time. Maybe that's why he named my brother Vinod after the former cricketer Vinod Kambli."

In India's opening match at the Women's T20 World Cup against Pakistan, Renuka bowled three overs for 24 runs without taking a wicket. In the second match against West Indies on Wednesday, she gave away just nine runs from her first two overs to put a lot of pressure on the West Indies top-order batters.