top of page

By:

Kiran D. Tare

21 August 2024 at 11:23:13 am

The Lady of Lord’s

Yastika Bhatia’s maiden Test century at Lord’s crowns the rise of an elegant wicketkeeper-batter who has quietly become indispensable to India’s new generation. Critics may say that there are flashier cricketers than Yastika Bhatia. She does not possess the raw power of a Smriti Mandhana or the aura of a Harmanpreet Kaur. She rarely dominates highlight reels or social media clips. Instead, she has built her reputation through reliability – a quality far more vital. At a time when white-ball...

The Lady of Lord’s

Yastika Bhatia’s maiden Test century at Lord’s crowns the rise of an elegant wicketkeeper-batter who has quietly become indispensable to India’s new generation. Critics may say that there are flashier cricketers than Yastika Bhatia. She does not possess the raw power of a Smriti Mandhana or the aura of a Harmanpreet Kaur. She rarely dominates highlight reels or social media clips. Instead, she has built her reputation through reliability – a quality far more vital. At a time when white-ball cricket prizes spectacle, the 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batter has become one of India’s finest practitioners of the understated virtues of timing, patience and composure. Bhatia’s 113 against England which powered the Indian women’s side to a historic win at Lord’s was not merely her maiden Test century but the first ever scored by a woman at cricket’s most celebrated venue. The innings helped India seal a comprehensive 270-run victory in the first women’s Test ever staged at Lord’s. Her hundred earned her a place on the Lord’s honours board, where generations of the game’s greatest names have been immortalised. Few entries have carried quite the same symbolism. Until now, no woman’s name had appeared there for a Test century because no women’s Test had ever been played at the ground. Bhatia’s career has mirrored the evolution of Indian women’s cricket itself. Born in Vadodara, she emerged through Gujarat’s domestic circuit at a time when opportunities for young women were expanding but remained far from abundant. A naturally gifted left-hander, she impressed selectors with a technique that appeared more classical than contemporary. Where modern batting often relies on innovation and improvisation, Bhatia’s game is rooted in balance. She plays late, favours placement over power and rarely appears rushed. Such attributes explain why coaches have long regarded her as especially suited to the demands of Test cricket, even though women are offered precious few opportunities to play the format. Modern wicketkeepers are expected to contribute almost as specialist batters while maintaining relentless concentration over long periods. Bhatia has embraced both responsibilities, becoming an important cog in an Indian side that has steadily shed its dependence on a handful of senior stars. That transformation has accelerated dramatically over the past year. India’s maiden Women’s ODI World Cup triumph marked a watershed for the sport, confirming that the country's women could finally translate promise into silverware. Although Bhatia missed that campaign after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury shortly before the tournament, her absence perhaps underscored her growing importance. Months of rehabilitation restored her confidence. If the World Cup represented the one that got away, Lord’s offered redemption. Returning to international cricket only recently, Bhatia produced an innings of remarkable maturity against England’s experienced attack. Her 113 came from 158 balls, balancing restraint with authority as India tightened their grip on the match. She admitted that six months earlier, while beginning rehabilitation, the idea of seeing her name on the Lord’s honours board would have seemed implausible. Those who know her were scarcely surprised. Former Indian wicketkeeper Kiran More, who has mentored Bhatia, has long spoken of her temperament rather than merely her talent. Scoring a century at Lord’s, he observed, is an ambition shared by virtually every cricketer. Achieving it after months away from the game simply reflected the resilience that had always underpinned her cricket. But hers was not a sentimental century assembled through fortune. It was a technically accomplished performance built on judgement outside off stump, crisp drives through the covers and the patience required by the longest format. It showcased precisely why Test cricket continues to matter. Unlike Twenty20, where brilliance can be compressed into a handful of overs, the five-day game rewards concentration accumulated over hours. For Indian women’s cricket, Bhatia’s century represents something larger than an individual milestone. It demonstrates the increasing depth of a side that is no longer defined solely by its biggest names. New heroes are emerging, backed by stronger domestic structures, better coaching and a professionalism unimaginable a decade ago. The honours board at Lord’s records statistics with characteristic restraint. It simply notes that Yastika Bhatia scored a century. Future generations may glance at the name without appreciating the path that led there. But Indian cricket will remember that the first woman to reach three figures at Lord’s was not merely making history. She was announcing that a new generation has arrived.

Maharashtra polls were won through 'fraud': Kharge

  • PTI
  • Apr 9, 2025
  • 4 min read


AHMEDABAD: Alleging that the BJP won the Maharashtra assembly polls through a “fraud” like never before, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday made a strong pitch for having elections on ballot paper.


Addressing the AICC session here, Kharge also accused the Modi government of “selling off” government assets to benefit crony capitalists and finishing democracy slowly.


“The whole world is moving from EVMs to ballot paper but we are using EVMs. This is all fraud. They ask us to prove it. You have devised such techniques that benefit the ruling party and put the opposition at a disadvantage,” Kharge said.


But the youngsters of this country will rise and “say we want ballot paper”, he said in his inaugural address at the session being held here on the banks of the Sabarmati river.


“What happened in Maharashtra. We raised the issue everywhere, Rahul Gandhi raised the issue strongly. What kind of voter list they made…Maharashtra election was a fraud. The same thing happened in Haryana,” the Congress president said.


Kharge pointed out that the BJP won 90 per cent of the seats and said this had never happened before.


“There has never been a fraud like the one that happened in Maharashtra polls, which was aimed at destroying democracy,” Kharge charged.

“We will find out about it. The thief always gets caught. Our lawyers and leaders are working for it. We are trying that,” he said.


Kharge said in the last 11 years, the ruling party has been attacking the Constitution.


“Constitutional institutions and principles are being attacked and we have to fight to protect them,” Kharge said.


He alleged that the government ran Parliament’s Budget session according to their whims and fancies.


“The Speaker took the Leader of Oposition’s name but did not let him speak. This is shameful in a democracy. If you do not allow LoP to speak how will you let people to raise their voice,” Kharge said.


Instead of debating issues of the people, the government conducted debate till late night for its agenda of communal polarisation, Kharge said in an apparent reference to the debate on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.


He pointed out that the debate on Manipur took place at 4 am and he requested that it be held the next day but the government did not agree, Kharge said and alleged that it seems the government wants to hide something.


“Democracy is being finished slowly, slowly, slowly,” Kharge alleged.

He said the opposition was not allowed to raise in Parliament the issue of imposition of tariffs by the US.


He said monopoly is being established with resources being handed to a few crony capitalists.


Kharge also alleged that SC, ST and OBC reservation was being finished through privatization.


“If this continues, the Modi government and Modi will sell off the whole country and go,” he alleged.


This government is handing over resources to its crony capitalists friends that are even against national interests, he claimed.


Kharge accused the BJP-RSS for raising 500 year-old issues to fan communalism.


The RSS chief asked its people not to look for ‘Shivlings’ under mosques but they continue to do that and divide people.


“Prime Minister Modi starts a fire and the RSS people add fuel to it,” he alleged.

"We're fighting second battle of Independence; difference is earlier foreigners were benefitting from communalisation, poverty, inequality, now country's own government is benefitting," he charged.


He lashed out at the BJP for having an "anti-Dalit mindset" after its leader sprinkled Ganga water at a Ram temple in Rajasthan's Alwar to "purify" it following Congress' Tikaram Jully's participation in the consecration ceremony there.


Kharge also made a strong pitch for a nationwide caste census and alleged that Prime Minister Modi uses OBC status for political gains but does not take steps for their welfare.


The Congress president also slammed the government over increasing excise duty on petrol and diesel and hiking the price of LPG cylinder.


In a stern message to non-performers in the party, Kharge said those who do not help the party must rest and those who do not fulfil their responsibilities must retire.


Asserting that the District Congress Committee Presidents will be given more powers, Kharge said they will be selected as per AICC guidelines to be issued soon.


He said the DCC will also set up block committees and other Committees under them.


Earlier, the Congress passed a condolence resolution, paying tributes to those Congress members who passed away after the Raipur session of February 2023.


The party paid rich tributes to former prime minister Manmohan Singh who passed away last year in December.


The Congress is holding its AICC session on the banks of the Sabarmati River here on Wednesday during which the party will present its social, political and economic views through at least two resolutions.


The Ahmedabad Session, themed "Nyaypath: Sankalp, Samarpan aur Sangharsh," is being attended by more than 1,700 elected and co-opted AICC members.


This comes a day after an extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) met here to finalise the session's agenda and discuss the resolutions to be passed at length.


Countering the BJP's high-pitched campaign of invoking nationalist figures to rally support, the Congress on Tuesday asserted its claim on the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India's first deputy prime minister, whose path it pledged to follow in the "ideological war" with the BJP-RSS.

Comments

bottom of page