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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.

When Algorithms Decide Your Income: India’s New Tax Reality

By 2026–27, the real conflict in taxation will be between what people declare and what algorithms believe they earn.

India’s tax system is undergoing a quiet yet far-reaching transformation. For decades, taxation revolved around what a taxpayer disclosed and what an assessing officer could confirm through paperwork and manual scrutiny. That framework is steadily being replaced by a technology-led model, where income is no longer just declared but inferred from vast streams of reconstructed digital data. Bank transactions, spending patterns, investments, and online financial behaviour are increasingly shaping how taxable income is determined.


By 2026–27, the central tension in India’s tax landscape is unlikely to be a simple divide between the rich and the poor. Instead, it will be a deeper conflict between human declaration and machine calculation. That is, between what individuals say they earn and what algorithms, powered by data trails, conclude they must be earning.


With the rapid expansion of platforms such as AIS (Annual Information Statement), GSTN, bank reporting systems, UPI, credit card networks, stock exchanges, and even global payment gateways, almost every financial activity now leaves behind a permanent digital trace. From a chartered accountant’s perspective, this marks a fundamental shift. The traditional concept of income derived from books of accounts and financial statements is gradually being replaced by income inferred from behavioural and transactional data. What matters is no longer only what is recorded in ledgers but what is reflected in a person’s real-world financial behaviour. A taxpayer’s spending, investing, borrowing, saving, and earning patterns are now continuously captured, analysed, and cross-verified against what is declared in the income-tax return.


For instance, if an individual reports an annual income of Rs 8 lakh but services EMIs of Rs 1.5 lakh. Then they spend around Rs 35,000 every month on credit cards and invest regularly in shares and mutual funds. They also pay rent, school fees, and insurance premiums; the system will infer that the declared income does not support such a lifestyle.


This is no longer a question of subjective suspicion or selective investigation by an officer; it becomes a question of mathematical inconsistency within the data itself. The algorithms will automatically flag such mismatches, generate risk scores, and trigger alerts or notices without human intervention. In effect, income tax is steadily evolving into a form of lifestyle-based taxation, where the way one lives financially becomes as important as the income one claims to earn.


Impact On Taxpayers

This shift will impact not only wealthy individuals but also millions of middle-class taxpayers, freelancers, digital creators, small traders, and independent professionals.


Today, a growing number of people earn through YouTube, Instagram, online marketplaces, foreign freelance platforms, stock trading, affiliate marketing, and various side businesses, but these incomes are not always reported completely or consistently. In the past, such fragmented and digital sources of income were difficult for tax authorities to identify and track with accuracy.


By 2026, however, most of these income streams will become fully visible and easily traceable through bank credits, mandatory platform reporting, payment gateway records, and international remittance data.


From a CA’s perspective, this creates both a serious challenge and a much larger professional responsibility. The role of the profession is steadily shifting away from simple return filing toward detailed financial data reconciliation and interpretation. Chartered accountants will increasingly be required to explain why a large bank credit does not constitute taxable income. Or why a particular transfer is actually a loan or a capital receipt, or why a family transaction is exempt or non-taxable. And how business cash flows logically align with the profits reported in the accounts. Clients, therefore, will no longer need only traditional tax planning and compliance support.


Data Mismatch

The biggest danger for taxpayers will not be tax rates but data mismatches. A person may be honest but careless in classifying income or informal in financial dealings. The new system will not understand intentions; it will only see numbers. Any inconsistency between spending and declared income can trigger scrutiny.


Simultaneously, this data-driven approach will reduce corruption and arbitrary harassment. Decisions will be algorithm-based, not officer-based. However, it also means there will be very little room for errors, delays, or informal practices.


The message for 2026–27 is clear: the safest tax strategy will not be hiding income but aligning income with financial reality.


For chartered accountants, the role will evolve from compliance professionals to financial interpreters of digital lives. In this new tax war, those whose data tells a different story than their returns will be on the front line — and only proper financial reporting will be their protection.


(The writer is a Chartered Accountant based in Thane. Views personal.)

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