Yastika Bhatia celebrates her century during the third day of the women’s Test match between England and India at Lord’s Cricket Ground on July 12, 2026 in London, England. (Photo/Getty Images)
MUMBAI: Yastika Bhatia’s century at Lord’s on Sunday was a milestone for Indian women’s cricket, but for her family it also marked the end of a difficult period. The 25-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman became the first woman to score a Test hundred at Lord’s, making 113 off 158 balls with a 14-ball knock on day three of the first-ever women’s Test at the ‘Home of Cricket’ against England.Her father, Harish Bhatia, said the innings was the result of months of hard work after a knee injury ruled Yastica out of the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup and kept her out of cricket for almost six months following anterior cruciate ligament surgery in October.
Speaking to TOI from Baroda, Harish recalled an incident at the Indian women’s team’s camp in Visakhapatnam last September that demonstrated the bond Yastika shares with her teammates.“All her teammates were crying when Yastika was injured. They did not even let her pack her bags because she was injured, and they did this work on her behalf. It was a nice gesture from them. Later, they were all checking on her when she was undergoing rehabilitation at the BCCI Center of Excellence in Bengaluru. They were telling her: ‘Get well soon Yastika.’ “We are waiting for you,” and they will send her encouraging messages. Today, I would like to thank all her teammates in Team India for their support. “At this point,” Harish Bhatia told TOI from Baroda.
Harish said the injury left Yastika disappointed as she wanted to help India in the ODI World Cup, but she soon shifted her focus to returning to international cricket.“Yastika was definitely down after the injury, as she wanted to help India win the ODI World Cup last year. However, she wanted India to win the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup, and she said to me: ‘Baba, I will help India win the T20 World Cup.’ Unfortunately, that couldn’t happen, but she has scored a brilliant century at Lord’s now,” Harish said.He credited former India wicketkeeper-batsman Kiran More, who has mentored Yastika for years, for helping her through her recovery and preparing her for the England tour.“Yastika prepared hard for the tour. The credit goes to Kiran More, who was like a father figure to her, guiding her every step of the way. He always told her: ‘Yastika, you are my best student.’ During her injury phase, he kept encouraging her, telling her: ‘This stage will pass.’”
It’s just a matter of six months. Sir Kiran coached her for hours together, both in wicket-keeping and batting. Yastika is also a very hardworking and disciplined cricketer.
I never saw her miss a single training session. “When we bought a new house in Kanali in Vadodara, she was present at the ‘Griha Pravesh’ party we did on her birthday on November 1, but after that, she was not here, as she was undergoing rehabilitation at CoE and was then with the Indian team,” Harish Bhatia said.He also thanked those who supported her return.“I would like to thank all her coaches and trainers, who helped her get fit, CoE, Baroda, BCCI, selectors and Indian women’s team coach Amol Muzumdar for showing confidence in her abilities despite her ACL injury,” he added.Moore said Yastica’s century was a reward for her persistence after suffering injuries and setbacks.“It was a fantastic century, she played very well. She’s always been very talented, but she’s really struggled with injuries and has often been out in the past.”
“However, Yastika has now proven its worth with this special ton in the Lord’s Test,” More told TOI.Lord’s century came after another important contribution earlier in the England tour, when Yastica scored 54 off 40 balls in the first T20I at Chelmsford. Before that, she managed just 41 runs in four matches at an average of 13.66 during the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup, as India exited at the league stage.Former India captain Diana Edulji believes the innings could be a turning point in Yastika’s career.“It was a fantastic century. I hope this is the turning point in Yastika’s career. She has to remain injury-free from now and focus on maintaining consistency,” Edulji told TOI.With her hundred, Yastika also joined the elite list of Indian cricketers who have scored Test centuries at Lord’s. The list includes Venu Mankad (1952), Gundappa Viswanath (1979), Dilip Vengsarkar (1979, 1982 and 1986), Ravi Shastri (1990), Mohammad Azharuddin (1990), Sourav Ganguly (1996), Ajit Agarkar (2002), Rahul Dravid (2011), Ajinkya Rahane. (2014) and KL Rahul (2021 and 2025).