Kedarnath mule operator's daughter Ritika Rawat picked for Uttarakhand senior women's team
On the Kedarnath pilgrimage trail, the working day is measured in footsteps, hoof-beats and the steady stream of yatris. A family from the Kedar valley now has a different kind of milestone to celebrate. Ritika Rawat, a 20-year-old left-arm spinner from Rampur-Nyalsu village in Rudraprayag district, has been selected for the Uttarakhand senior women's cricket team.
Ritika's father, Mahendra Singh Rawat, earns a living by operating horses and mules on the route to Kedarnath, ferrying pilgrims and goods up the mountain. Her mother, Aruna Devi, looks after the household. The family has modest means, and Ritika kept her cricket going with very limited resources. Her selection has set off celebrations across the valley and the wider district. Local residents see it as a matter of pride that a daughter of the hills has broken into the state's top women's side.
The timeline is tight. The squad is due to leave Dehradun for Pune on 23 October. Ritika is expected to travel with the team for a state-level competition that begins in Pune on 26 October. That gives her only a few days to move from a village celebration to the pressure of senior domestic cricket. For a young spinner, Pune will be the first real chance to show that the faith placed in her was justified.
It helps to understand the setting she is entering. Uttarakhand's women's side is still young. The state received BCCI recognition in 2018, and the team made its List A debut against Bihar in Cuttack in December 2018. Its Twenty20 debut followed against Tripura in Agartala in February 2019. Since then the team has played in the Senior Women's One-Day Trophy and the Senior Women's T20 Trophy, India's main domestic women's competitions.
The side has had real highs. In the 2023-24 season Uttarakhand reached the final of both the one-day and the T20 tournaments, finishing runners-up each time. That was a notable rise for a team that had once struggled to win matches. In the 2019-20 one-day season it lost all eight of its games. The 2025-26 one-day campaign was more mixed. Uttarakhand won three of its seven matches and went out in the group stage. Neither competition has produced a title for the state yet, so the team is still searching for that first big trophy.
In that context, a left-arm spinner who has come through without much infrastructure is a welcome addition. Domestic women's cricket in India is slowly widening its catchment. Players from small villages, hill districts and families with no cricketing background are now finding routes into state squads. The pathway runs from local grounds and age-group trials to the senior state side. From there, strong domestic returns can lead to wider notice, including selectors keeping an eye on talent for higher honours.
For Ritika, nothing is guaranteed. A place in the squad does not ensure a place in the playing eleven. Senior cricket asks more of a young spinner in control, variation and temperament than age-group cricket does. Batters in the senior circuit are quick to punish loose deliveries, and a left-arm orthodox bowler has to build trust through patience and accuracy. Even so, the selection itself is the achievement. It shows that a girl from the Kedar valley, with limited facilities, earned recognition through persistence.
For the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand, her story is also a useful reminder. The talent pool in the mountain districts is deep but often hard to reach, and each such selection encourages other families to take their daughters' sporting ambitions seriously. If Ritika gets an opportunity in Pune and bowls well, her journey could inspire many more girls along the Kedarnath route and beyond.
For now, the focus is simple. She packs her kit, joins the squad in Dehradun, and heads to Pune with a village and a district behind her.