Quick Info→
Age: 21 Years
Profession: Women Cricketer (Wicketkeeper)
Hometown: Baroda (now Vadodara), Gujarat
Some Lesser Known Facts About Yastika Bhatia
- Yastika Bhatia is a left-handed cricketer who performs for the Indian Women’s nationwide group. She is understood for her calm method and may flip gears when required. She gained the limelight after the ODI match on 26 September 2021 at Ray Mitchell Oval, Mackay when she scored 64 runs and helped her facet to interrupt Australia’s 26-match profitable streak which included victories over the likes of New Zealand, South Africa, and the champion England. Her facet additionally registered the highest-ever run chase by an Indian ladies’s group.
- After that inning, Rajkuvardevi Gaekwad, the chairman of the ladies’s choice committee on the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) and an individual who had watched Yastika since childhood revealed,
“She’s quite a jovial character when she’s not playing. No doubt the win today would spark something in her, but I’m sure there might be a few celebratory guitar sessions in the team hotel tonight. She did well and scored runs in the camp. She had been doing well for Baroda in recent seasons and was very much in the national reckoning. I have been backing her since she started doing well for Baroda in U-19 tournaments.”
- She began taking part in cricket on the age of eight when her father had put her within the cricket academy at their college alongside along with her elder sister. She use to get actually blissful by watching ladies’s cricket develop, and needed to achieve that stage. She acquired good help from her mother and father who all the time encourage her to go a great distance on this sport. The native residents would usually criticize her father for placing his daughter into this sport, however he by no means listened. Once throughout a lockdown when their observe acquired adjourned, her father determined to construct a cricket internet of their condominium premises close to the parking zone. After getting permission, she began her observe with the tennis ball regarding the security of the locals. In an interview, her father instructed,
“The society we live in was very helpful. They moved a few vehicles around in the parking area to help us set up a makeshift batting net. We couldn’t use the hard leather ball because it could get noisy and a lot of residents are elderly, so we practiced with tennis balls. The bounce was sudden and unpredictable, but that’s what Australian pitches can be like. And you need to have quick wrists to work in those conditions. Training with Chaugule sir really sharpened her batting reflexes, and then Kiran More’s help polished it further.”
- She then performed within the Baroda U-19 group alongside along with her sister. Her sister, nonetheless, determined to pursue medicines additional however Yastika was positive to undertake cricket as her profession. She quickly acquired chosen within the U-19 National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru together with 24 different women. This academy is headed by the legendary former Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid. The essential intention of this academy is to nurture the skills and to organize them for his or her future video games below the watchful eyes of professionalists.
- In 2016, she acquired chosen within the Baroda group for the West zone U-19 squad the place she performed a vital function in taking her facet to a victory by scoring 230 runs with a median of 115. The similar yr in the identical championship, she went on to attain her maiden one-day century (131 runs in opposition to Maharashtra). She then scored essential 60 runs in opposition to the favorites Mumbai. After the match, she stated,
“My parents were present at the ground when I scored my hundred and so, I became really emotional at that moment. After all, right since the day I started playing cricket, I had their complete support. In fact, some other parents (of the team members) had also traveled to Aurangabad to cheer for us. I am really happy to see such support for women’s cricket and hopefully, we can realize our dream of making Baroda the national champions this time. Playing cricket always makes me happy and when you are doing something that gives you joy, you won’t feel any pressure. Hopefully, I will continue to do well and the biggest dream, of course, is to play for Team India.”
- Soon in 2019, she acquired chosen within the India-A ladies’s group for the tour of Australia ranging from the twelfth of December. Earlier she performed within the India-A ladies’s group in opposition to Bangladesh in One-dayers.
- Since she began taking part in cricket, she has acquired nice sportsmanship and wonderful wicketkeeping expertise in consequence she acquired chosen because the captain of the West Zone Women’s Cricket Team for the Inter-Zone 50-over and Inter-Zone Three Day Competitions. Post turning into a captain, she scored a century in a T20 recreation in opposition to the Manipur within the nationwide U-23 Women’s match after recovering from psychological trauma.
- The trauma so occurred when in 2020, the members of the Baroda senior ladies’s group together with her had been sexually harassed by their head coach Atul Bedade in March. He was later suspended by the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA). As a consequence, Yastika went into psychological trauma and missed two state matches for her Baroda group. Miss Gaekwad stated after that incident,
“It was tough for Yasti. She consulted doctors and her sister who is studying medicine also helped her recover from the trauma. Her parents supported her completely to come out of that zone. Moving on from the episode, she worked on her training. Since she started playing, she has been very hard working. After she recovered, she just focused on playing for India.”
- Finally, on 18 September 2021, she acquired the possibility to characterize her nation within the Indian ladies’s observe recreation in opposition to Australia in Brisbane. Australia after batting first posed 278 runs on the board. On the opposite hand, India misplaced each their openers on 30 runs. Yastika then held a 40 runs partnership with Shafali Verma and acquired dismissed on 41 runs of 42 balls when the rating was 130 runs. India misplaced the match by 36 runs.
- Then got here the primary ODI match of her profession in opposition to the identical opposition. This time she got here at quantity three after Shafali Verma acquired dismissed on the rating of 31. After her regular partnership of 77 runs with captain Mithali Raj, she acquired dismissed (caught) by Darcie Brown on the rating of 35 runs after dealing with 51 balls which incorporates two fours. Australia chased the goal of 226 runs dropping only one wicket. In the following recreation, she couldn’t do nicely and acquired dismissed on 3 runs.
- It was a troublesome problem for India to interrupt their profitable momentum. In the third ODI, Australia after profitable the toss scored 264 whereas batting first. India alternatively had an incredible begin with all three high three batters scoring the vast majority of runs they chased. Yastika contributed with 64 of 69 balls and took the facet to a win by two wickets. She acquired dismissed after edging a shorter supply. The ball went to the palms of a deep backward sq. leg fielder. Though, It was Jhulan Goswami who was honored with the participant of the match award, however Yastika was India’s high scorer.
- Just a few days later, she acquired the possibility to make her check debut in opposition to the identical facet. She may solely rating 19 and three runs in that match. The recreation resulted in a draw. Before that, she featured in 5 T20 video games for India’s A and B groups and scored 91 runs with a median of twenty-two.75. For India A video games, she changed the injured Harleen Deol. On 28 February 2021, a 22-member Indian ladies’s group was introduced that may tackle South Africa in 5 ODIs and three T20 internationals to be held in Lucknow ranging from 7 March. Although, she was chosen just for the T20I sequence for the injured Harmanpreet Kaur.
- Two months earlier than the Australian tour, former Indian wicketkeeper Kiran More helped her develop the power-hitting potential. He defined
“She’s a very complete player, the approach and technique are very good,” explains More, who labored with Yastika for 2 months forward of the Australia tour. “There’s a long way to go and she’s just played three games. It’s a good start though.”
He additional added,
“We did some work on her technique and some drills on power-hitting. Indian girls need power, compared to the foreign girls who are generally stronger. But she’s a very good student and she had the talent. The areas she wanted to work on we did, like hook shots, square cut, hitting long as well. I told her what she needs to do on the international stage.”
- Her coach Santosh credit Kiran More for all of the photographs she performed in the course of the third one-dayer in opposition to Australia in October 2021.
- Before the graduation of the One-dayers in Australia, she went for a two-week quarantine because of the rise of the COVID second wave. During that point, she used to ahead the movies of her taking part in guitar to her father. One day he recalled that second with pleasure,
“She sent one of an old Bollywood song, ‘Papa kehte hai bada naam karega, And now she has.”
- After the group was introduced, she was in Rajkot with the Baroda ladies’s group to play a number of observe matches. In the morning itself, she acquired the information of her choice and instructed her dad. After listening to this, he was in tears. He accompanied her to Rajkot the place the group’s observe can be going down. Yastika described that second as a surreal feeling! She additional added,
“The Indian dressing room has some absolute legends of the game and I can’t wait to meet the likes of Mithali Raj, Jhulan di, and Harmanpreet Kaur. Merely watching how they prepare before a game will be huge learning in itself. The Indian women’s team hasn’t played any matches for almost a year now and so, it will be challenging to take on a good team like South Africa. However, I am confident about doing well if I get a chance to play.”
- She was a brilliant scholar throughout her twelfth commonplace the place she had chosen science as her topic. After her closing exams, she instructed her mother and father that
“I am so relieved that I won’t have to study Physics anymore!”
Due to her busy cricket schedule, she would hardly ever get time to review. Just fifteen days earlier than the ultimate exams, she studied and secured 88.90 %. After the consequence, her mother and father had been overjoyed. At that point, she was in a health club. When she returned, she requested her father concerning the consequence. Her father instructed her to guess. To which Yastika guessed in between 70 to 80 %. But to her shock, the consequence was greater than her estimated expectation. Even her mom couldn’t cease herself from saying that
“Now, even I am relieved that I won’t have to study Physics with her.”
To which smiling Yastika shared,
“I got just about a month before the exams to study properly. I can’t focus on my studies if my mom is not by my side.”
Her sister shares,
“She got just one month when she could focus only on studies. That shows that if she sets her sights on something, she makes sure that she achieves it.”
- In an interview, her father revealed,
“She’s always been fond of learning. Either it’s something in cricket, or something else. She learned the guitar recently because of the second lockdown. During the first lockdown last year, she signed up for online classes and learned French.”
She would full half the syllabus in the course of the time when she was not working towards. She stated that she studied a little bit daily. Also, her college staffs had been very supportive. Her sister would assist her with tough topics.
- One day, her father gave the entire family a shock by reserving a house with out giving any trace. At that point, he would usually say that his daughter will at some point play for India and Yastika would undoubtedly be needed that to occur.
- She does yoga daily for ten minutes after waking up at round 5 AM, then visualizes the photographs she would play the following day. After reaching house, at 6 PM she goes to the health club named Physio2fitness situated in Vadodara. Just earlier than the match, she prefers listening to her favourite music with a view to keep relaxed and composed.