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.

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 ahead of the 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.

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.

“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.”

The injury had forced Yastika to miss India’s triumphant ODI World Cup campaign at home last year.

Her last T20I appearance had come 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.

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.

“She showed a lot of maturity. Initially, she was very calm and kept backing me while I was getting those boundaries,” she said.

“Even if I missed a couple of balls, she would say, ‘No problem, Yastika, you are batting like a dream, just keep going’. Later, she got into her own flow and changed the momentum again in our favour. She looks very mature now, and we hope to see many more innings like this from her.”

India also found another bright spot in debutant pacer Nandini Sharma, who impressed with figures of 3/34.

Yastika said the young seamer trusted her strengths brilliantly.

“Her slower ones are her strength and she used them beautifully. To perform like that on debut is exceptional,” she said.

“Nandini is a product of domestic cricket and the WPL. It’s exciting for Indian cricket that whoever is coming into the XI is making a statement and contributing immediately.”

Published on May 29, 2026