If you watch the IPL matches closely, you must have noticed a girl sitting in RCB’s dugout. She recently made headlines after a picture of her and Kyle Jamieson sharing smiles during the match between RCB and KKR went viral. Rumour even had it that the two are dating but the reality is indeed far away from it. But who is that girl then?
Wel the girl whose picture went viral, is Navnita Gautam. She is the massage therapist of IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore and is in fact the first female support staff for any IPL team. Kudos to RCB management to be gender equal in their appointment for the following post.
Navnita Gautam joined RCB nearly three years ago and 2019 was her first full official season working with them. Before joining RCB, Navnita has had experiences of working with the Toronto nationals team in Global T20 Canada and she was also the support staff for the Indian Women’s Basketball squad during their Asia Cup campaign. She however excels in dealing with cricket players and is the most experienced in it.
Do not go by her name though. Navnita Gautam is not an Indian. She might be of Indian ethnicity of course but she is indeed a Canadian by birth.
In a recent interview with famous sports analysis site ESPNcricinfo, Navnita Gautam asked whether she ever faced any problem managing the entire Men’s squad being a woman herself. She gave the perfect response to this by saying, “Absolutely not. It’s like having 20 brothers around at all times. Slowly but surely, the transition is happening. I believe that as long as the players and support staff trust your work, gender shouldn’t be an issue as we are all healthcare professionals.”