Three Indians are set to feature in the Women’s Caribbean Premier League in a few weeks time. Two of them – Shreyanka Patil and Shikha Pandey – are established globe trotters and match-winners. Alongside them is a third name, an unheard of leg-spinner named Salonee Dangore.
Incidentally, cricket might not have even happened to this 27-year-old allrounder from Indore given she was neck-deep in a life of athletics, dabbling in the 100m, 200m sprint and long jump before the willow and leather ball found their way to her.
“My mother was a basketball player. Not professionally but it was a passion for her. No one else in our family does sport, just me and mom,” Salonee tells Sportstar after her WCPL selection. Her father is a Telecom District Manager with BSNL and she has a brother three years younger than her.
Salonee’s mother, Vibha, has been keenly involved in her sporting evolution, perhaps living out her dreams, which did not find support when she was her daughter’s age.
“When I was 16 or 17, mom’s then coach – Jose Chacko, a Sports and Youth Welfare Officer in Bhopal – told her that I was a good athlete and might fare better if I swapped athletics for cricket. The opportunities were better there,” she remembers.
After a few months of training, the Madhya Pradesh U19 team came calling and there was no turning back from there.
Strong foundations
Like many aspiring bowlers, Salonee – with her sprinting background – entered the sport hoping to be a pace bowler. She enrolled at a local cricket academy run by former Ranji cricketer Sunil Lahore. A few deliveries of watching her bowl however convinced him that Salonee could be moulded as a legspinner instead.
“Legspin is quite tough. For the first two to three months, Sunil sir did not let me bowl at all. I was just made to perfect the action through multiple drills. The strength needed to get the action right takes time to develop.
“After a few months there, I moved to Ramesh Bhatia Cricket Foundation (RBCF) and trained under Sanjay Choubey and Himanshu Vairagi. My control improved there,” she explains.
“When I was an athlete, my parents used to travel with me for competitions. It was an individual game so you could understand that. Once I moved to cricket though, they eventually stopped on my insistence. I would tell them that it doesn’t look nice that other players don’t have their parents coming along but I do. But my mother stays updated on every single thing. She knows which teams are around and what training opportunities are around.”Salonee Dangore
Her unpolished skillset meant she warmed the bench a lot early on in the Madhya Pradesh domestic setup. After more than eight years in the state ecosystem, Salonee made the decision to switch to Chhattisgarh last season.
A few stints as a net bowler with Women’s Premier League side Delhi Capitals had preceded this decision to move states, an experience she credits for boosting her confidence to chase greener pastures.
Gains from WPL
“The DC opportunity came to me at the right time in my career. I learnt a lot from the players there, be it Shikha (Pandey) di, Jess Jonassen and the others. When Jess bowled, my bowling would come up too. She used to watch me do my thing and guide me. She would discuss her bowling plans with me. If I was bowling to Meg Lanning, I used to get feedback from her and discuss my bowling quite a lot. There was something to learn from every player there… Jemi.. Shafali..the whole squad.”
Salonee with Shikha Pandey.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement.
Salonee with Shikha Pandey.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement.
This was a big shift from the isolated and sometimes individual personal journeys in the domestic scene.
That move to Chhattisgarh is something she calls her career’s biggest challenge so far. But Salonee was up to the task, finishing as her team’s highest wicket-taker (15 scalps in six games) in the Senior One Day Trophy (2024-25). She was handy with the bat, lower down the order.
“I’ve been part of MP for eight years. It’s not easy to leave your side and go somewhere new. It meant starting from square one and making a name for myself and a steady place in the setup. I had to prove that the decision I took for myself was right so it was the biggest challenge, so far at least.”
ALSO READ | Women’s CPL 2025 Draft: Royals pick Shreyanka; Knight Riders rope in Shikha Pandey, Salonee Dangore
The WPL gig complemented her training under veteran MP leggie Narendra Hirwani who she has been training under for three years now.
“Hirwani sir was called during one of our MP camps to see the bowling pool. That’s when I first met him. My club, RBCF, also called him once to meet the young players. All this allowed me to meet him and get advice on my bowling and eventually train under him.
“I didn’t need technical tweaks once I worked with the DC squad as I already work with someone as experienced as Hirwani sir. How to read the batter and look for when she will attack was what the head coach and assistant coach worked on me with at Delhi Capitals.”
The WPL stint gave Salonee more than just experience. It brought added discipline to her daily routine as a cricketer and also allowed her to tap into her batting a bit more.
“I’ve worked a lot on my batting. In MP, my role was to be the big hitter and score at a healthy strike rate and that continued in Chhattisgarh. At DC, I used to speak with Jess a lot about power in our batting. It was quite fun,” Salonee, who usually bats at number 6 or 7, says. Her training schedule now accommodates dedicated batting sessions and power-hitting drills.
Salonee finished as Chhattisgarh’s highest wicket-taker (15 scalps in six games) in the Senior One Day Trophy (2024-25).
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Salonee finished as Chhattisgarh’s highest wicket-taker (15 scalps in six games) in the Senior One Day Trophy (2024-25).
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Salonee can tap into all these experiences as she gears up for a few weeks in the Caribbean.
“My state association and I received a letter from Trinbago Knight Riders informing us that I have been selected to play for the side this season. I guess my net bowling stint with DC might have made the difference,” she says. Giving her company will be DC teammates Shikha and Jonassen.
Means to an end
Salonee belongs to a generation that now has the financial attractions of the WPL to work towards as an added avenue alongside the senior women’s national team.
“Since the WPL has come, the sport has started to be taken more seriously. You now have the chance to compete alongside international players and so you need to match the standards that are the norm world over. That has definitely pushed players harder at the domestic level. Players want the national cap but want WPL too,” she narrates.
“The goal is to ultimately play for India. With the net bowling stints I’ve done, I think I am close to finding a way into the WPL too. I am praying that these doors open for me.”
Salonee Dangore in brief
Idols: Shane Warne, Narendra Hirwani
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education
Hobbies outside cricket: Loves travelling, nature trips, road trips with friends
For Salonee’s parents, her WCPL selection is the validation for decades spent investing in their daughter’s sporting ambitions.
“My parents were thrilled when they found out about my CPL drafting. It’s a huge opportunity and it’s come after a long time. I’ve of course been working hard, but so have they to support my ambitions and keep the faith that I’ll manage to make something of myself in sports.”
Hirwani has a simple yet stern mantra for her during her time in the West Indies – improve constantly and play fearless cricket.
“Now, all my time is going into homework on the pitches and the kind of scores made everywhere. I want to make this stint as impactful as possible,” Salonee concludes.
