An Exclusive Interview with USA all-rounder Geetika Kodali: Role models, Fitness regime, favourite cricketing memories

In the heart of North Carolina, a young cricket prodigy is making waves in the American cricketing scene. Geetika Kodali, a talented all-rounder with a passion for the game, has quickly established herself as a force to be reckoned with. Born and raised in the United States, Geetika’s journey into cricket began at a tender age, driven by her love for the sport and the camaraderie it fostered among her friends and family.

From her nascent days of informal play to her formal tutelage at the esteemed Cricket Zeal Academy, Geetika has meticulously honed her skills, developing a reputation for her audacious batting and dexterous bowling. With her unwavering dedication and innate talent, she has represented several preeminent cricket associations within the United States, showcasing her unparalleled ability to contribute significantly to the team in diverse capacities.

In this exclusive interview, we delve into the intricate tapestry of Geetika’s life and career, exploring her transformative journey, her sources of inspiration, and her ambitious aspirations. Uncover the driving forces behind her pursuit of excellence in the sport, her experiences representing the United States, and her visionary outlook on the future of American cricket.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

Q. Would you like to share what inspired your cricketing  journey?

Geetika: So as a kid, I was always playing outdoors and I was always trying new sports. I think I started off with soccer, then tennis and swimming and then I started playing basketball. So, every season I would switch to a new sport and my parents always encouraged me to try things. So, one day I was visiting my childhood home and my friend was going to cricket practice and until then I didn’t really know it was being played professionally in America. I went along with him and I tried out the sport and I just loved it. So, I decided to start it and see how it was for a season. And I’ve just stuck with it since.

Q. How did your family contributed to your success in cricket and you taking up this sport? Because at an early age of 11, it’s really hard for a kid to decide what sport to pick up.

Geetika: Yeah, I think one of my main motivations for picking up cricket was how much it connected me to my parents. Like I felt more connected to my roots, obviously, they came from India and I was born here, but they always have enjoyed being around the cricket atmosphere and so their support has been so great. I wouldn’t be anywhere close to where I am today without their help, I mean by taking me to practice and bring me back was a long task. And actually, we moved to the other side of the country. So, I would have more access to cricket facilities and I would be able to balance my education along with cricket when I was around 15 years old.

Q. How do you manage your studies and your professional sport as well at the same time?

Geetika: Yeah, so currently I’m in college at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. It’s about 30 minutes away from my house, but I have my own apartment, and room on campus. So, I have classes four days a week and I travel back home for around two sessions a week with my coach Rohan Gosala. And apart from that, I just have to keep up with like conditioning and strength work in the gym. But balancing, it has definitely been a challenge. Like every time I move up a grade or every time, I have a tour, it’s always a new situation depending on what professors I have, what classes I’m taking. And I think the most important part is having a good support system. I’ve found some really great friends that I’m very thankful for. They always support me emotionally or by catching me up in school or just by taking some time to help me unwind. So, yeah, it’s been great so far, I think throughout high school and college it’s very different experiences with cricket and everyone in America is gonna have to go through that.

Also READ: An Exclusive Interview with USA rising star Anika Kolan: Role models, U19 leadership, all-time favourite cricketers

Q. Which player in fact inspired you to take up the sport as a professional sport?

Geetika: The player that inspired me to take up the sport was Ellyse Perry. When I was first trying out for the national team, I would come back from school and I would watch the WBBL and the Sydney Sixers are my favourite team and she was captain and all around her, a very big part of that team along with Alyssa Healy. So, I’ve been watching her ever since and I actually had an opportunity to play under Julia Price Australian cricketer. And she told me that Ellyse Perry was very hard working and she has one of the best work ethics that she’s ever seen. And so that definitely inspired me to be like, I wanna be like that one day. I wanna be able to have people say that I balance both cricket and education well, and I was really like a well-rounded individual

Q. What challenges did you face in, in your path while representing USA cricket?

Geetika: My involvement with USA cricket is just as a player representing the national team when I get called up and hopefully being like a mentor to other younger girls in the pathway. So there have been challenges, I think one of the most impactful challenges was maybe at the U 19 World Cup in 2023 I was the captain and we did not win as many games as I would have liked to. But I felt like in our preparation, we were showing very positive signs like we had a couple of series wins before going into the World Cup and even in the practice matches, we were winning some games. But when it came to the group stage games, we were, we weren’t able to make it to the next level and there were some really close games.

So, it was definitely like, heartbreaking, but it was just a testament to seeing the difference between the challenges that we go through playing cricket in the USA not training next to each other. We’re all like maybe seven-hour, three-hour flights away from each other. So, we need to find local academies, local people and coaches to train with. And then we come together as a team for a camp and head out to a tour. So, we’re playing against other countries that have an opportunity to train together every day. They’re basically like living together and know each other inside and out. And I think that we do our best to do the same thing. But at the end of the day, we all have different lives and different challenges that we’re going through.

Q. What is your favourite cricketing memory?

Geetika: My favourite cricketing memory is when we were playing in UAE, it was a USA versus UAE under 19 bilateral series before the U 19 World Cup and the series was tied 2 to 2 and we played our final game at ICC Academy and we were, the game was very tense like it was down to us needing maybe one or two more wickets to be able to come away with a comfortable win. And the team was tense, the other team was tense and at the end of the day, the feeling of a nail biter and coming away with a win is probably one of the best feelings in the world. So yeah, that was one of the games that I think I’ll never forget and I’ll take with me.

Q. How do you deal with setbacks, for example, a low score with the stick or a bad day on the field?

Geetika: I think it’s important to kind of put into perspective that you were given the opportunity to even have a setback. I’m so grateful that my problems for the day could be having a bad over on the field or having a bad day on the field with respect to instead of it being like not being able to have food on my plate at the end of the day or anything like that.

I’m being given the opportunity to fail and to learn from my mistakes. So, building that support system around me that can help me in those times, like we’re all human, it is going to feel bad when you do fail or when you do not reach your goal for a specific day, but being able to break it down and reflect on your mistakes. For example, I take some time to unwind. I make sure that I kind of distract myself. I hang out with my teammates or I do some other work in school or something like that and then I can really dive into it once all the emotions are kind of dying down and I can look at what happened. Were there any like specific causes for the outcome that happened? And how can I fix those next time so that I have a better chance of succeeding?

Here’s the full video:

Also READ: An exclusive interview with UAE’s youngest captain Natasha Cherriath: Cricketing journey, role models and vision for the future of women’s cricket

This article was first published at WomenCricket.com, a Cricket Times company.