Eyes on Yastika as India aim for consistency amid the middle-order muddle

26th September 2021 will go down as one of the glorious days in the history of Indian cricket as the Women in Blue finally managed to halt the Aussie juggernaut of 26 wins courtesy of a two-wicket win in the final ODI at Mackay. 

In pursuit of a stiff target of 265 runs, the Indian side was off to a steady start in the powerplay, with Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma forging a 59-run partnership for the opening wicket before the southpaw was dismissed for 22 by Ashleigh Gardner. 

With a mountain to climb and a chance to derail the winning streak of Australia, Yastika Bhatia walked in to take the centre stage. 

In only her third international appearance, against the formidable bowling unit of the hosts, Yastika showcased tremendous grit and determination to weather the storm in the initial few overs. 

The 21-year old steadied the innings along with Shafali and laid a solid foundation for the side with a 101-run partnership for the second wicket. En route to this match-winning partnership, Yastika recorded her maiden half-century to help the visiting side inch closer to the win.

Despite a couple of wickets in the middle overs, the southpaw smashed 64 off 69 deliveries studded with nine boundaries to help the visiting side carve a famous win. One of the highlights of this match-defining innings was the ability of the youngster to absorb the pressure and keep the scoreboard ticking in the middle overs. 

Over the past couple of years, the Women in Blue have struggled to find the ideal player for the number three slot. In the 2017 World Cup, Mithali Raj was the designated No.3 batter for the side, coming in at the loss of the first wicket. However, since the summit clash at the Home of Cricket, the skipper has dropped a position down to help youngsters in Jemimah Rodrigues and Priya Puniya settle in the playing XI.

Despite plenty of opportunities and trying a variety of combinations, the Indian team failed to find a suitable candidate for that position. However, the tour of Australia helped the team test Yastika at the international level. 

In her debut game, the youngster scored a valuable 35 and followed it up with a match-defining 64 in the final match to help India unearth a star in the making. 

The Indian team has been guilty of chewing up a lot of deliveries in the middle overs and failing to rotate the strike, which adds enormous pressure on the batters in the middle order. 

With a valuable addition of Yastika at number three, the team can continue with the exploits of the dynamic opening combination of Smriti and Shafali without much break in the momentum of the scoring rate. 

While the selectors have made a daring call by dropping Punam Raut and Jemimah from the World Cup squad and opting for a newcomer, Yastika has showcased glimpses of the great things to follow for Indian cricket in her short international career. 

The youngster continued her sublime show in the Women's Challenger Trophy and amassed 199 runs in four innings at an average of 49.75, including a match-winning 86 in the summit clash against India D. 

Over the past couple of years, Yastika has been one of the most consistent performers for Baroda on the domestic circuit and graduated up the ranks with performances at the age-group level and senior side. 

She has been on the radar of the national selectors for some time after her prowess in the domestic games and the India A outings. 

While she was awarded her debut in the series against Australia, little do the people know; she was part of the squad for the series against South Africa at home. 

Despite not featuring in any of the matches, Yastika worked hard on her technique and improved her wicket-keeping skills to add another dynamic to her game. 

While her heroics behind the wickets are something the team management would not expect from her at the moment, Mithali Raj would hope for the youngster to replicate her recent form in the upcoming World Cup. 

Yastika will have an ideal opportunity to get acclimatised to the conditions on offer in the five-match ODI series against the White Ferns as the build-up to the World Cup. 

With the pressure of playing in her first mega event and the opportunity to step onto the field against arch-rivals Pakistan, 6th March 2022 will indeed be one of the most awaited days in the cricketing career of the young batting sensation.