What is common to Yastika Bhatia — the first woman cricketer to score a Test century at Lord’s on Sunday — and Sourav Ganguly? Much like the 'Dada' of Indian cricket, the 25 year-old wicketkeeper-batter became only the second Indian left-handed batter across men's and women’s teams to score a Test century at the hallowed venue.
The No. 3 dug in to score 113 off 158 deliveries with 14 boundaries, as Harmanpreet Kaur’s team ended the third day’s play with a 430 run-plus lead over hosts England. The milestone came when Yastika took a single off Issy Wong to bring up her maiden hundred in the longer format.
Playing just her fourth Test for India, the Vadodara girl reached the three-figure mark off 145 deliveries in the second innings. It was an innings marked by composure, patience and determination, delivered on one of cricket’s biggest stages. Yastika’s hundred is now the highest score by an Indian batter in the third or fourth innings of a women’s Test, surpassing Sandhya Agarwal’s 98 against New Zealand in Lucknow in 1985.
A jubilant Yastika celebrated the landmark by raising her bat before removing her helmet to acknowledge the applause around the ground. Her teammates rose to applaud from the dressing-room balcony and the dugout as she earned a place on the iconic Lord’s honours board.
The Lord’s Test has been witnessing a comprehensive performance by the Indian team so far, with pacer Kranti Goud finishing with figures of 17-7-37-5 to skittle England to 170 all out in the first innings on Saturday.
A technically sound top-order batter and a competent wicketkeeper, Yastika got her maiden India call-up in 2021 when she was selected for a ODI series against South Africa. Despite being benched the whole series, she started building on her skillsets with additional training under former Indian wicketkeeper Kiran More. She also faced Baroda men’s bowlers, including the Pandya brothers, at the Reliance Cricket Ground, the home of Baroda Ranji team.
When India toured Australia towards the latter half of 2021, Yastika made her debut in all three formats. She notched up her maiden ODI fifty in her third outing and her knock helped India record their highest successful ODI run-chase. In the 2022 Women's World Cup, Yastika was suddenly forced to open the innings for three matches before she went back to her favourite position, No. 3, where she scored back-to-back fifties.
The rise of Richa Ghosh, a member of India’s ODI World Cup-winning team last year who stole the thunder in white ball cricket, and brush with injuries had set Yastika back by a few notches. After Sunday, she looks to have recovered lost ground again.
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