Diviya G K

Diviya G K (born 19 January 1987), often referred to (erroneously) as GK Diviya, is a Singaporean businesswoman and cricketer who plays for the women's national cricket team as a right handed all-rounder.

She has also captained the team.

Diviya was born in Singapore.

At birth, she was named Diviya Ganaisen Krishnan, after her father.

However, her parents divorced when she was young, and she was raised by her mother, Vannitha.

Soon after the divorce, Vannitha entered into a deed poll, changing her daughter's name to Diviya G K.

Vannitha's elder brother, Stacey Muruthi, is a former captain of the Singapore men's national team.

His sons Peter and James Muruthi have also played for that team, as have Anish, Prasheen, and Navin, the three sons of Vannitha's other brother, Sreerangam Paramanantham.

Diviya first played cricket when she was about eight years old.

Initially, she would play only with her five male cousins, and her uncle Stacey.

They would play at the void deck of her grandparents' house in Ang Mo Kio, using biscuit tins as makeshift stumps, and a tennis ball.

Playing against boys was challenging, and Diviya's cousins would tease her by saying that she could not play cricket because she was a girl.

To improve her cricketing skills, Diviya watched cricket matches on television, and practiced batting and bowling on her own.

Her favourite cricketers were Kevin Pietersen, Steve Waugh and Muttiah Muralitharan.

She could not play cricket at her school, St. Margaret's Secondary, as it was not available, but took up tennis as a co-curricular activity, and played hockey for the Singapore Cricket Club.

When she was 18 years old, Diviya was given her first cricket coaching.

After Diviya left school, she studied Clinical Science at Charles Sturt University in New South Wales, Australia, a course that has greatly helped her in her cricket career.

While living in Australia as a student, she played cricket for the men's team of a club, and hockey and soccer for her university.

During her vacations in Singapore, she coached cricket, hockey, and soccer for Asia Pacific Sports Management.

She also planned to obtain a post-graduate degree in medicine and become a doctor.

However, she was unable, due to financial constraints, to pursue post-graduate studies.

As a young player, Diviya took the field in various domestic competitions in Singapore.

She played in the boys' U-16 Singapore Cricket Association (SCA) league, in Division Six of the SCA men's league for the national women's team, and in Division Five of that league for the Singapore Cricket Club (SCC).

In 2006, the SCA put together its first women's national team.

Diviya tried out for the team, and was selected.

She was also appointed as captain of the team for its first ever match, against Malaysia, at the Mutiara Rini Oval in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, on 29 April 2007.

Malaysia won the match by 58 runs.

Diviya again led Singapore in the 2007 ACC Women's Championship, a 30-over a side tournament also held in Johor Bahru, in July 2007.

After losses to China by 38 runs, and Bangladesh by 10 wickets, the Singapore team finished on a high note by defeating the United Arab Emirates by six wickets, with Diviya's 31 runs being the top score for the match.

She also played men's club cricket in Australia, with Waratahs in Darwin in 2008, and with Cavaliers in Orange, New South Wales, in 2011.

In August 2013, she became the first woman to play in Division Two of the SCA men's league.

In her debut match at that level, for SCC Cougars against Marina 1, she took 4–24 in eight overs, was named player of the match, and earned praise from the captains of both teams.

SCC Cougars won the match by six wickets.

In early 2014, Diviya had a 33-day stint playing for one of the top three South African domestic women's cricket teams, Boland, in the Women's Provincial Programme 50-over tournament.

As the team's players were not paid, she was sponsored by well-wishers including Joe Grimberg, former Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Singapore and patron of the SCA, and Skiya Sports.

The Boland team was so strong that she did not get many opportunities to bat or bowl, but she was praised by the team's coach and her teammates for her potential and determination.

The following year, 2015, Divya played for the HV & CV Quick domestic team in the Netherlands.

In both years, she also attempted to raise sponsorship to play domestic cricket in both Sri Lanka and Australia, but was unsuccessful.

, she was still playing domestic men's league cricket for the SCC.

In mid-2019, Diviya played for several teams in the Sunbirds Women's League in Singapore, and in December 2019/January 2020 she took the field for Southern Jaguars in the Malaysian Super Women League.