New season, new Yastika, happy India

Yastika Bhatia isn’t known to be a big hitter. In fact, a few months ago, if you had asked Yastika if she thought of herself as a big hitter, she would have hesitated to answer affirmatively and would have given you that characteristic small smile she has during interviews. 

A strike rate of 115.3 in T20s since 2021 tells you why the above instance is likely to happen. 

However, this new season, there’s a new version of Yastika on show. And you know what’s the best part? Unlike the new versions of iPhones, she actually has added some new features to her batting. 

Today, against RCB, in front of a houseful Chinnaswamy, she finally unveiled that new version, which experts and close observers have been discussing in hushed tones, waiting for more solid evidence to confirm its existence. 

You see, Yastika in a way, confirmed today that she can be a proper hitter. 

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First ball of the chase. 

Renuka Singh, looking for swing, bowled it quite full, just short of the yorker length, and on the fifth stump from over the wicket to the left-hander. Yastika, who always stands tall in the crease, brought her bat down in a fast swing and met it with its toe end. 

That was enough. The first ball of the chase had gone to the boundary. 

Fast forward to the second ball of the second over. Left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux angled the ball into Yastika from over the wicket. The 23-year-old just stepped towards the off stump, covered it, and bludgeoned the full ball for a massive six over mid-wicket. 

Crease movement. Power. Connection. And a gunshot sound off the bat to masquerade as a mic drop. 

Molineux immediately corrected her line on the next ball, like the smart spinner she is, and bowled it wide and on a good length. Yastika just took a step ahead and cut her for a four. 

Renuka changed her angle of attack in the third over and came from around the wicket, but bowled a good length ball. That was her mistake. Yastika was in a hitting mood. She just bent her knees a bit and hit the ball that angled into her for a huge six over mid-wicket. 

In the fourth over, she attacked a different bowler. This time it was Sophie Devine who was once uppishly sliced for a boundary through the third, and then driven aesthetically through the covers for a four on consecutive deliveries. 

In the space of five boundaries, Yastika had shown everything you need to see in a powerplay boundary hitter - crease movement to alter the line and length, smooth and fast bat swing, and, most importantly, intent to keep hitting the ball. 

Her record this year in the first six overs just proves that. Her strike rates against pace have seen the most amount of improvement as you can see from the pitch maps of her two seasons. She has almost doubled her strike rate against the full and length deliveries since last year, and that’s because she’s hitting deliveries she used to defend to the boundary. 

Growth, execution, confidence, and, most importantly, results! Yastika has all going for her at the moment. 

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Yastika was referred to Kiran More by former Indian women's coach WV Raman after he saw her in the Indian setup. More, a former Indian wicketkeeper who is also currently involved with MI, took her under his wing at his academy in Vadodara, where the Baroda Men’s team also practised. 

He not only worked on her movements behind the stumps as a keeper, but also made her work on her game in front of the wicket. She faced men cricketers who bowled at a rapid pace, touching 130kmph. She also batted against the Pandya brothers, who trained with the other Baroda boys at More's academy. 

All that work that has gone into her game from junior cricket until now has led to this. With a much-improved hitting ability, she won’t have to play the anchor’s role at number 3. Now, she can be a proper hitter for India at that position come the T20 World Cup, as she can continue the momentum given to her by the openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma. Her keeping abilities are just an added bonus.

What Yastika would love to do from here is convert knocks of 31(15) into 70(45) on a regular basis. If that happens this WPL, then the world’s her oyster.