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-batter became the first woman to score a Test hundred at Lord’s, making 113 off 158 balls with 14 fours 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 the knee injury that ruled Yastika out of the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup and kept her away from cricket for around six months following ACL surgery in October.Speaking to TOI from Baroda, Harish recalled an incident from the Indian women’s team’s camp in Visakhapatnam last September that showed the bond Yastika shares with her teammates.“All her teammates were crying when Yastika got injured. They didn’t even let her pack her bags as she was hurt, and did that job for her. It was such a nice gesture by them. Later, they would all check on her when she was undergoing rehabilitation at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. They would tell her: ‘Get well soon Yastika. We are waiting for you,’ and would send her encouraging messages. Today, I would like to thank all her India teammates for their support in this phase,” Harish Bhatia told TOI from Baroda.Harish said the injury had left Yastika disappointed because she wanted to help India in the ODI World Cup, but she quickly 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 told me, ‘Papa, I will help India win the T20 World Cup.’ Sadly, that couldn’t happen, but she has scored a superb century at Lord’s now,” Harish said.He credited former India wicketkeeper Kiran More, who has mentored Yastika for years, for helping her through the recovery period and preparing her for the England tour.“Yastika prepared very hard to prepare for the tour. Credit goes to Kiran More, who has been like a father-figure to her, guiding her at every step. He has always told her: ‘Yastika, you are my best student.’ During her injury phase, he would keep encouraging her, tell her: ‘This phase will be over. It’s just a matter of six months.’ Kiran sir has trained her for hours together, both in wicketkeeping and batting. Yastika too is a hard-working and extremely disciplined cricketer. I’ve never seen her miss a single session of training. When we bought a new house in Kanali in Vadodara, she was present for the ‘Griha Pravesh,’ which we did on her birthday on Nov 1, but after that, she hasn’t been here, as she was undergoing rehab at CoE and was then with the Indian team,” Harish Bhatia said.He also thanked those who supported her comeback.“I would like to thank all her coaches and trainers, who helped her recover her fitness, at CoE and Baroda, the BCCI, the selectors and the Indian women’s team head coach Amol Muzumdar for showing faith in her abilities despite her ACL injury,” he added.More said Yastika’s century was the reward for her persistence after dealing with injuries and setbacks.“It was a fine century, she played very well. She has always been very talented, but really struggled with injuries, and was often dropped in the past. However, Yastika has now proved her worth with this special ton in Lord’s Test,” More told TOI.The Lord’s century followed another important contribution earlier on the England tour, when Yastika scored a match-winning 54 off 40 balls in the first T20I at Chelmsford. Before that, she had managed only 41 runs in four matches at an average of 13.66 during the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup, where India exited in the league stage.Former India captain Diana Edulji believes the innings could be a turning point in Yastika’s career.“It was a fabulous century. I hope that this is the turning point in Yastika’s career. She has to remain injury-free from here and focus on being consistent,” Edulji told TOI.With her hundred, Yastika also joined an elite list of Indian cricketers to score Test centuries at Lord’s. The list includes Vinoo Mankad (1952), Gundappa Viswanath (1979), Dilip Vengsarkar (1979, 1982 and 1986), Ravi Shastri (1990), Mohammed Azharuddin (1990), Sourav Ganguly (1996), Ajit Agarkar (2002), Rahul Dravid (2011), Ajinkya Rahane (2014) and KL Rahul (2021 and 2025).
