Neetu David is a former Indian cricketer who represented the India women's national cricket team as a slow left-arm orthodox bowler. Widely regarded as one of the finest spinners in the history of women's cricket in India, she was known for her consistency, flight, and ability to extract turn on a variety of surfaces. After retirement, she has been associated with cricket administration and selection roles in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
| Full name | Neetu David |
|---|---|
| Born | 1977, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Role | Bowler (slow left-arm orthodox) |
| Batting | Right-handed |
| National side | India |
| Domestic side | Uttar Pradesh / Railways |
| Test debut | 1995, vs England |
| ODI debut | 1995 |
| ICC Hall of Fame | Inducted 2024 |
Neetu David was born and raised in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. She took to cricket at a young age and developed her craft as a spin bowler at a time when women's cricket in India was administered by the Women's Cricket Association of India (WCAI), prior to its merger with the BCCI in 2006. She rose through domestic ranks playing for Uttar Pradesh and later Indian Railways, one of the dominant teams in Indian women's domestic cricket.
Neetu David made her international debut in 1995 and went on to represent India in Test matches, One Day Internationals (ODIs) and later Twenty20 Internationals over a career that spanned more than a decade. She was a key member of the Indian bowling attack across multiple ICC Women's World Cup campaigns, including the editions held in 1997, 2000, 2005 and 2009.
She was part of the Indian squad that reached the final of the 2005 Women's Cricket World Cup held in South Africa, where India finished as runners-up to Australia. In Test cricket, she registered figures of 8 wickets for 53 runs in an innings against England at Jamshedpur in 1995, which stood for many years as one of the best bowling figures in women's Test cricket.
At the domestic level, Neetu David was a long-serving member of the Indian Railways women's team, which dominated the inter-state competition for several seasons. She was instrumental in numerous title-winning campaigns and was a regular fixture in zonal and national tournaments organised first by the WCAI and subsequently by the BCCI.
After retiring from international cricket, Neetu David transitioned into administrative and selection roles within Indian cricket. She served as the chairperson of the BCCI senior women's selection committee, in which capacity she oversaw squad selections for India across formats during a period that included the inaugural Women's Premier League (WPL) season in 2023.
Neetu David's career bridged two important eras of Indian women's cricket: the WCAI period before 2006 and the BCCI era thereafter. Her longevity, consistency with the ball, and subsequent administrative work have made her an influential figure in the development of women's cricket in India. Her induction into the ICC Hall of Fame placed her alongside Indian greats such as Diana Edulji and Mithali Raj.