Yastika Bhatia, not a finished article
Yastika Bhatia certainly has the talent but needs to refine her game at the domestic level before graduating to international cricket.
Starting strong
Many in Indian cricket were excited when Yastika Bhatia hit a couple of centuries in ODIs on the India tour of Australia right before the 2022 ODI World Cup. However, that excitement has been short-lived as Yastika hasn't been able to carry her form from there on."What had happened 1-2 weeks before I received the India call-up was that my dad told me that 'I am getting an intuition that this time you will be selected for the Indian team'. At that point, there were just talks about South Africa or Sri Lanka possibly touring India, but nothing was confirmed. My dad felt that this time I would get selected because I had been performing continuously for three years. I had done well for India A too. I was like, 'if it happens, I am happy. If it doesn't, I will work harder," Bhatia narrates the story of her maiden ODI call-up.
"So when I got to know I was selected, I was in Rajkot playing against Saurashtra in the Senior Women's practice matches. I informed my father, and he was in tears. He gave me a lot of blessings, and my family was happy too."
A bit undercooked
It is evident that she does have the talent, but Bhatia looks a bit undercooked at the moment and needs to refine her game further at the domestic level before rubbing shoulders with some of the best cricketers in the world.She was picked in the Indian squad for the 2022 Commonwealth Games ahead of Richa Ghosh as the leading wicket-keeper, but after she wasn't able to click with the bat and missed a few chances behind the wickets, she was dropped from the playing XI.
More opportunities will come her way
Bhatia had a golden opportunity of redeeming herself after she was brought in as the concussion substitute for Tanya Bhatiya in the final of the Commonwealth Games.However, she wasn't able to leave any impact in the last over and cost India the gold medal. Given that she has started keeping wickets as well, more opportunities will come her way, and Yastika needs to be ready to grab them with both hands.
