Keeper-batter Yastika Bhatia is one of only six Indians to have featured in the landmark 10th edition of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL). While Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Deepti Sharma have played in the league before, Yastika Bhatia, Dayalan Hemalatha, and Shikha Pandey made their debut in the ongoing season.
While Deepti Sharma and Dayalan Hemalatha haven’t found much success, the other four Indians have impressed for their respective teams. Notably, Yastika Bhatia, three years after making her international debut across formats during India’s multi-format tour of Australia in 2021, landed a gig with the Melbourne Stars for her maiden WBBL stint.
After India’s home One-Day International (ODI) series against New Zealand, Stars’ draft pick Yastika Bhatia joined the squad following their season opener. On her WBBL debut, Yastika opened the batting and contributed a valuable 36 off 28 balls, building crucial partnerships with Ines McKeon and Meg Lanning to help secure the team’s victory. In her second game, she shone as the top scorer, registering her maiden WBBL fifty with a match-winning 57 off 46 balls.
Yastika faced a dip in form, failing to convert her scores in subsequent games, departing for 20, 22, 11, and 8. However, ahead of the team’s 8th game, it was confirmed that she would miss the match due to a wrist injury. Further scans revealed a minor fracture, ruling her out for the remainder of the competition—the Stars’ 9th and 10th games.
Opening the batting and anchoring the Stars’ innings, Yastika had a notable maiden WBBL campaign, accumulating 154 runs from 6 outings, with an average of 25.66 and a strike rate of 104.76. Although her campaign was cut short due to injury, she will hope for more WBBL appearances and aim to leave a stronger impression.
The same will be the case with the Stars, who will be eager to move on from another challenging season, currently ranked at the bottom after 8 games with only two wins. The team finished 7th in 2023 and 6th in 2024, and all eyes will be on the WBBL Player Movement Window, set to open on December 2 for 10 days. During this period, teams can trade players and make immediate fixes to their rosters following this season’s final on December 1.
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