Pooja Vastrakar

Pooja Vastrakar (born 25 September 1999) is an Indian cricketer who currently plays for Madhya Pradesh and India.^[2][3] An all-rounder, she plays as a right-arm medium-fast bowler^[4] and right-handed batter. She made her international debut for India in 2018, against South Africa.^[5]

Pooja Vastrakar

Vastrakar in August 2022
Personal information
Full name	Pooja Vastrakar
Born	(1999-09-25) 25 September 1999 (age 24) Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh, India
Nickname	^[1]
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm medium-fast
Role	All-rounder
International information
National side	India (2018–present)
Test debut (cap 88)	16 June 2021 v England
Last Test	30 September 2021 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 122)	10 February 2018 v South Africa
Last ODI	24 September 2022 v England
ODI shirt no.	34
T20I debut (cap 57)	13 February 2018 v South Africa
Last T20I	20 February 2023 v Ireland
T20I shirt no.	34
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2012/13–present	Madhya Pradesh
2018–2022	Supernovas
2022/23	Brisbane Heat
2023–present	Mumbai Indians
Career statistics
Competition WTest WODI WT20I Matches 2 26 40 Runs scored 37 463 256 Batting average 12.33 23.15 16.00 100s/50s 0/0 0/3 0/0 Top score 13 67 37* Balls bowled 244 816 607 Wickets 5 20 26 Bowling average 23.00 37.55 23.38 5 wickets in innings 0 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 0 0 Best bowling 3/49 4/34 3/6 Catches/stumpings 0/– 4/– 7/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 19 February 2023
Medal record Representing  India Women's Cricket Asian Games 2022 Hangzhou Team Commonwealth Games 2022 Birmingham Team

Early life

Vastrakar initially started playing cricket with the boys near her neighborhood in Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh.^[6][7] She later started going to the stadium and practiced net batting where the coach Ashutosh Shrivastava realized her talent and started her formal training.^[7] She started off as a batter and later on when she joined the Madhya Pradesh team, she started fast bowling alongside her batting. At the age of 15, she was a part of India Green Women Squad.^[8] In 2016, while Vastrakar was fielding during a senior women's domestic match, she twisted her knee.^[7] This led to her getting surgery done for her anterior cruciate ligament tear which put her National call-up in jeopardy.^[7] The Challenger Trophy in 2018 played a pivotal role in Vastrakar's selection for India's South Africa tour.^[7]

Vastrakar's father is a retired employee of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). Her mother died when she was ten years old. She has four sisters and two brothers and is the youngest of seven siblings.^[1]

International career

She made her Women's One Day International cricket (WODI) debut for India Women against South Africa Women on 10 February 2018.^[5] She made her Women's Twenty20 International cricket (WT20I) debut for India Women against South Africa Women on 13 February 2018.^[9]

In October 2018, she was named in India's squad for the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies.^[10][11] However, she suffered an injury during a warm-up match, and was later ruled out of the tournament.^[12] In January 2020, she was named in India's squad for the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup in Australia.^[13]

In May 2021, she was named in India's Test squad for their one-off match against the England women's cricket team.^[14] Vastrakar made her Test debut on 16 June 2021, for India against England.^[15] In January 2022, she was named in India's team for the 2022 Women's Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.^[16] She scored 156 runs averaging 26.00, and took 10 wickets averaging 18.30 in the tournament. In July 2022, she was named in India's team for the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.^[17]

References

1. Annesha Ghosh. "Vastrakar: India's bold and resilient teenager". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
2. "Pooja Vastrakar". ESPNcricinfo.
3. "Player's profile". CricketArchive.
4. "India's potential Test debutantes: Where were they in November 2014?". Women's CricZone. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
5. "3rd ODI, ICC Women's Championship at Potchefstroom, Feb 10 2018". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
6. "The Pooja Vastrakar story: From playing with boys and dealing with a tragedy that threatened to destroy her to helping India beat Pakistan in the Women's World Cup". Times of India. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
7. I was picked by my coach in a boys training camp - Vastrakar, retrieved 15 December 2018
8. "India Green Women Squad | Women's Challenger Trophy, 2015 | Cricket Squads | ESPNcricinfo". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
9. "1st T20I, India Women tour of South Africa at Potchefstroom, Feb 13 2018". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
10. . Board of Control for Cricket in India. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
11. "India Women bank on youth for WT20 campaign". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
12. "Devika Vaidya replaces injured Pooja Vastrakar". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
13. "Kaur, Mandhana, Verma part of full strength India squad for T20 World Cup". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
14. "India's Senior Women squad for the only Test match, ODI & T20I series against England announced". Board of Control for Cricket in India. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
15. "Only Test, Bristol, Jun 16 - 19 2021, India Women tour of England". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
16. "Renuka Singh, Meghna Singh, Yastika Bhatia break into India's World Cup squad". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
17. "Team India (Senior Women) squad for Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games announced". Board of Control for Cricket in India. Retrieved 11 July 2022.

External links

• Pooja Vastrakar at ESPNcricinfo
• Pooja Vastrakar at CricketArchive (subscription required)