Stardom in athletics awaiting her after an impressive qualification show in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur wants to also play cricket ‘some day’ but only if it doesn’t come in the way of her ‘first passion’.
The 25-year-old Kaur, who qualified for the final round as the second best thrower with a best effort of 64m, said she has ‘natural talent’ to play cricket as a batsman.
She had started trying her hand in cricket last year to handle the psychological toll of the coronavirus-forced lockdown.
“I am not leaving discus throw, this is my first passion. I want to repay Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and Sports Authority of India (SAI) with a medal on Monday. They have left no stone unturned for my training, competition etc.
“After the Olympics, I want to win medal in World C’ships (2022) and Gold in Asian Games,” Kaur said.
“But someday I want to play some cricket tournaments. That (cricket) is my second passion. I can continue athletics and play cricket also. I have played cricket in my village and nearby places. I feel I have natural talent to play cricket,” added the athlete who stands at 6’1”.
Kaur loves to bat and idolises former India opening batsman Virender Sehwag and ex-captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
“I love to bat like a Sehwag or a Dhoni. They have less technique but can whack any bowler out of the ground. Especially Sehwag, I remember many great innings of him.
Coming back to athletics, Kaur said she was touched by the humility of Sandra Perkovic of Croatia and Valarie Allman of USA, who congratulated her after her performance in the qualification round.
Allman (66.42m) qualified for the final as the best while Perkovic (63.75m) was third.
“Perkovic is a great athlete with two Olympic gold medals (2012 and 2016), she was having her meal but then she came to me and congratulated me. The American Allman also did the same, she told me it was a very good effort from me. I was touched, I am like nobody when compared to them.”