"When are you going to the Gulf?"
It's a common question in Kerala that's asked of people, irrespective of their social standing, when talk revolves around earning a living. Arundhati Reddy may have heard it a fair few times when around her Kerala team-mates, of whom S Sajana is now at the women's T20 World Cup in the UAE with her, when she moved to play for the state last year in an effort resurrect her stalled career.
Reddy hadn't played international cricket since July 2021 and had seen players who made debuts much after her leapfrog her into the national team. But in August this year, a month after her return to the national team, fuelled largely by her performances in the WPL, a new and improved Reddy was able to break the happy news to her mentors - Biju George, the former India women's fielding coach who is also from Kerala, among them.
"I'm going to Dubai," she excitedly yelped after her selection for the World Cup.
On Sunday, with the eyes of much of the cricket world on Dubai, Reddy showed a strong crowd of approximately 16,000, and many following on TV, what she could do. Capped by the fiery send-off to Nida Dar in the final over, perhaps a release of the pent-up emotions from the two dropped chances off her bowling earlier in the innings.
The eyes closed for a second as she soaked it all in. She collected the match ball and walked off to applause ringing around the ground. Her World Cup best of 3 for 19, in her third edition, with India's campaign on shaky ground, contributed to them picking up their first points with a six-wicket win over Pakistan.
In a way, Reddy's run at the World Cup has been down to the coming together of several forces.
In the lead-up to the tournament, there were considerable doubts around whether she would be a first-XI pick. India's usual plan of playing just two fast bowlers and tying down opponents with their plethora of spin options have been condition agnostic, and it's entirely possible this would have been the case had the tournament been held in Bangladesh, as originally planned.
However, that strategy has undergone tweaks here in the UAE. On Sunday, in Pooja Vastrakar's absence because of a niggle, Reddy stepped up to deliver not just with the new ball, but at the death as well.
"For the last two years, I've tried to work on how to become a complete T20 bowler," Reddy said after walking into the press conference with her Player-of-the-Match award. "A lot of work has gone behind it. I want to be a bowler who can bowl across all phases, and be confident enough to deliver for the team when required."
When she burst through in 2018, Reddy was predominantly a swing bowler. But in the middle of 2023, Reddy realised the need to add more bows to her string, like attacking the stumps much more and varying her lengths. This came after opportunities at Kerala and all that she picked up at the WPL, where she played for Delhi Capitals.
George, who also works with Capitals, had a small role to play in Reddy's move. While lack of opportunities had stifled her growth at Railways, the lure of a government job dissuaded her from quitting. However, the financial security from the WPL allowed her to take a bold step, shifting to Kerala.
The work she has put in over the past year has contributed massively to her second coming, which began at WPL 2024 where she picked up eight wickets in nine games at an economy rate of 7.62. Don't go by the wickets' column alone - she was one of Meg Lanning's go-to bowlers during the campaign, evident in the sheer number of overs she bowled - 29.2, the second-most for the team.
"I think, for me, honestly, I wanted to play for India again, the last three-three-and-a-half years was a bad patch personally," Reddy said when asked about the desire to change things around in her career. "It was about what needs to be done, what I need to be improving in. The main focus was to be the best allrounder in the world, so I prepared in a certain way that when I come in, I know I can win games for India."
With a bit more luck and catches being taken, Reddy may have had a five-for. But she'll take the three she got on Sunday, for it helped deliver India's first win. It's also likely they won't ask her the burning question next time she's in Kerala... she has shown that the gulf between then and now has been bridged.