~ The 18-year-old from Jaipur won the inaugural season of 'Cricket Ka Ticket' and is now dreaming of making it big with overall developmental support from the Royals ~

Jaipur, 14 June 2023: Six months ago, 18-year-old Aditi Chauhan's dream of playing high-level cricket seemed distant, but when she heard of Rajasthan Royals' cricket reality show, 'Cricket Ka Ticket', her hopes were reignited.

The girl from Jaipur had been playing in local tournaments around the state, but could not secure an opportunity to represent her state team given the abundance of talent and competition present in Rajasthan. However, in December 2022, when Rajasthan Royals, along with COLORS, launched India's biggest sports reality show, Aditi found a pathway to progressing in her career given the reward of ₹5 lacs and the opportunity to appear for trials at various T20 women teams.

Aditi hails from a joint family and is the only girl in the family who is pursuing sports, while all her cousins are into various other fields. Her father Sunil Chauhan has always been supportive of her cricket, but her grandfather has not been appreciative and instead wanted her to pursue education to find a better source of livelihood. But the 18-year-old never gave up on her dream, and through 'Cricket Ka Ticket', was able to get a lifeline when she appeared for trials in Jaipur in February 2023, and eventually got selected to be a part of the show as she was one of the 22 players who made it to the Royals High-Performance Centre in Nagpur.

Despite her journey not starting well on the show and Aditi being in the potentially eliminated members after having performed poorly in the fitness challenge, the judges of the show decided to show faith in her and retain her as a contestant. "I think it was one of the toughest phases for me because everything was on the line," said Aditi, remembering the first phase of the show. In the next challenge, however, she was able to bounce back and leave everyone stunned. It was a life-changing moment for Aditi and she would go on to win the competition. "I couldn't believe it! It is like a dream come true for me, and I'm looking forward to keep working on myself and making it to the top," Aditi added.

From the Royals' perspective, Aditi's is one of the latest examples of how the franchise has continued to work towards its vision of unearthing young talent and providing them a platform to excel. Along with the prize money, the franchise will also be taking care of her overall development through fitness and cricket camps during the year, and prepare her to take on bigger challenges. "India has a huge pool of women cricketers who give up on their dreams due to lack of opportunities, and the reason why we created 'Cricket Ka Ticket' was to provide a platform to these unidentified talented individuals who have not played any streamlined domestic competitions. The idea is to nurture them and create a pathway that can open up several playing opportunities for these individuals. It is a conscious effort that helps us strengthen the grassroots in Rajasthan as well, where we also have the RR Women's Cup which is another platform that allows us to identify talent. I'm confident Aditi's win will serve as an example for more girls to take up the sport in the state and around the country," said Jake Lush McCrum, Chief Executive Officer, Rajasthan Royals.

During the course of the show, former and current Royals' players and coaches including Kumar Sangakkara, Sanju Samson, Munaf Patel, Lasith Malinga, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Pravin Tambe, etc. were extensively involved in encouraging and coaching the participants and also imparting knowledge on how to make improvements in their overall game - not just for the finalists, but also to the thousands of players who turned up at the trials across six locations.

Over the course of the next few months, Aditi will have the chance to train under the Royals coaching team which will focus on her overall cricketing and mental development, as well as securing major opportunities for her to give trials for women's T20 teams.


ENDS