U19 World Cup Champion Archana Devi's mother Savitri was Called a 'Witch', READ her Story here

India Women Under 19 Cricket team wrote their names in the history books of cricket on Sunday (January 29) beating England in the U19 T20 World Cup 2023 final and becoming the champions of the world. Out of many girls who made the country proud, today we bring you the story of Archana Devi, who had a major hand in India's win over England in the final. She took two wickets of England's Niamh Holland and Grace Scrivens.

After her mother lost her father to cancer and the younger brother of Archana to a snake bite, she was deemed a daayan (witch) by the villagers. Later on, when she let her daughter follow her dream of cricket, she was blamed by relatives to let her take the wrong path, which the typical Indian society people terms as 'galat rasta'. When Archana joined Kasturba Gandhi Awasiya Balika Vidyalaya, a school 15-20 km away from her village, there were cheap whispers in the neighborhood that Archana has been sold by her mother to some dealer.

The World Champion from Unnao 

Archana Devi, take a bow #U19T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/lT5strVNQ2 — Lucknow Super Giants (@LucknowIPL) January 29, 2023

"Ladki ko bech diya, ladki ko galat dhande mey daal diya hai, ye saari baatein mere muh pe bolte they (I have sold my daughter, I have put her in a wrong line. People used to tell me these things to my face)," Savitri told Indian Express.

Shivram, Archana's father died in 2008 due to cancer leaving behind a lot of debt and three young children. In 2017, Savitri's younger son Budhiman Singh died due to a snake bite. When neighbours and relatives could not find anyone to point a finger at, they blamed Savitri for the death of both Shivram and Budhiman.

Now, around 20 to 25 of those two-faced murmurs sit around the house of Savitri telling her family, "tum logo ki toh kismat badalgyi." Rohit Kumar, Archana's brother, swipes away the phone from her mother says to the journalist speaking, "Bhaiya meri maa bahut mahaan hai, jinhone ek chawanni nahi help kiya kabhi wo aaj mehmaan bane hue hai and ye sabko chai pila rahi hai (My mother is a great person, she is serving teas to those people, who had never helped us with a single penny.)"