Yastika Bhatia

Rather than letting that setback discourage her, Bhatia used the time to improve. She began extra sessions with Kiran More, the former India wicketkeeper, who coached her glovework. She also sharpened her batting by facing first-class cricketers, the Pandya brothers among them, at the Reliance Cricket Ground, which serves as the home venue of Baroda's men's Ranji side.

Her international debut arrived during India's tour of Australia in the second half of 2021, and she appeared in all three formats on that trip. In only her third ODI she reached fifty for the first time. That innings played a part in India completing their highest successful run chase in one-day internationals. At the 2022 Women's World Cup she was unexpectedly asked to open the batting for three games. She then moved back to her preferred slot at No. 3 and made half-centuries in consecutive matches.

Since then, her path has been complicated by injuries and by the emergence of Richa Ghosh, particularly in the shorter formats. Bhatia has yet to make a real mark in T20 internationals. In franchise cricket, though, she has batted near the top of the order for Mumbai Indians and gathered 200-plus runs in the first two editions of the WPL.