How Yastika Bhatia fought back from ACL Injury to earn Women's T20 World Cup spot
Women's T20 World Cup: Yastika Bhatia returned from a serious ACL injury with a fluent 54 against England in the first women's T20I. The innings, backed by Jemimah Rodrigues and debutant Nandini Sharma, underlined India's growing depth before the World Cup.
India batter Yastika Bhatia said she had to build herself from scratch after a career-threatening ACL injury, enduring months of painful rehabilitation before returning with a match-winning half-century against England in the first women's T20I on Thursday, May 28.
Yastika, who injured her left knee during India's preparatory camp for last year's ODI World Cup in Visakhapatnam, marked her comeback with a fluent 54 off 40 balls in India's 38-run win in the opening women's T20I of the three match series against England ahead of World Cup beginning on June 12.
"I think those who undergo ACL surgery know how difficult it is because a whole muscle of that leg goes away. You literally have to build everything from scratch," Yastika said after the match as quoted by PTI.
The left-hander admitted there were phases during rehabilitation when progress seemed invisible. "After the surgery, the rehab process was pretty tough. There were days when nothing was happening and no progress was visibly seen. But I just kept showing up every day," she said.
The injury had forced Yastika to miss India's triumphant ODI World Cup campaign at home last year. Her last T20I appearance came against Bangladesh in April 2024, while her last competitive outing was during the India A tour of Australia in August before the injury sidelined her for several months.
"After months, I could finally see improvement. The support system around me was beautiful... the Centre of Excellence staff, family, friends, teammates like Jemmy (Jemimah Rodrigues), everyone kept checking on me. I'm very grateful... all's well that ends well."
BACK WITH A BANG
Back in India colours, however, Yastika looked like she had never been away. Playing without skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who was rested, India slipped to 7/2 inside the opening over with Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma departing cheaply. Yastika walked in under pressure and steadied the innings with Jemimah Rodrigues.
From driving confidently through the off-side to taking on Sophie Ecclestone over wide long-on for a six, Yastika settled quickly and brought up her fifty off just 31 balls. She and Jemimah stitched together a match-turning 126-run stand for the third wicket off only 76 balls.
"The first thing Jemimah told me was, 'Let's build a partnership and keep playing positively'," Yastika recalled. "We both were batting well in the practice games and were in good touch coming into the series. The plan was simple -- watch the ball, rotate strike, find the gaps and then capitalise later."
Yastika praised Jemimah, who struck 69 off 40 balls and was adjudged player-of-the-match. India also found another bright spot in debutant pacer Nandini Sharma, who impressed with figures of 3/34. India play England in two more T20Is before the Women's World Cup begins.
India batter Yastika Bhatia said she had to build herself from scratch after a career-threatening ACL injury, enduring months of painful rehabilitation before returning with a match-winning half-century against England in the first women's T20I on Thursday, May 28.
Yastika, who injured her left knee during India's preparatory camp for last year's ODI World Cup in Visakhapatnam, marked her comeback with a fluent 54 off 40 balls in India's 38-run win in the opening women's T20I of the three match series against England ahead of World Cup beginning on June 12.
"I think those who undergo ACL surgery know how difficult it is because a whole muscle of that leg goes away. You literally have to build everything from scratch," Yastika said after the match as quoted by PTI.
The left-hander admitted there were phases during rehabilitation when progress seemed invisible. "After the surgery, the rehab process was pretty tough. There were days when nothing was happening and no progress was visibly seen. But I just kept showing up every day," she said.
The injury had forced Yastika to miss India's triumphant ODI World Cup campaign at home last year. Her last T20I appearance came against Bangladesh in April 2024, while her last competitive outing was during the India A tour of Australia in August before the injury sidelined her for several months.
"After months, I could finally see improvement. The support system around me was beautiful... the Centre of Excellence staff, family, friends, teammates like Jemmy (Jemimah Rodrigues), everyone kept checking on me. I'm very grateful... all's well that ends well."
BACK WITH A BANG
Back in India colours, however, Yastika looked like she had never been away. Playing without skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who was rested, India slipped to 7/2 inside the opening over with Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma departing cheaply. Yastika walked in under pressure and steadied the innings with Jemimah Rodrigues.
From driving confidently through the off-side to taking on Sophie Ecclestone over wide long-on for a six, Yastika settled quickly and brought up her fifty off just 31 balls. She and Jemimah stitched together a match-turning 126-run stand for the third wicket off only 76 balls.
"The first thing Jemimah told me was, 'Let's build a partnership and keep playing positively'," Yastika recalled. "We both were batting well in the practice games and were in good touch coming into the series. The plan was simple -- watch the ball, rotate strike, find the gaps and then capitalise later."
Yastika praised Jemimah, who struck 69 off 40 balls and was adjudged player-of-the-match. India also found another bright spot in debutant pacer Nandini Sharma, who impressed with figures of 3/34. India play England in two more T20Is before the Women's World Cup begins.
