Yastika’s ‘let’s give it all’ attitude bearing fruit

Express News Service

GQEBERHA: India’s Yastika Bhatia had just given a quote, which, if shared on social media, would have likely received replies and comments, saying ‘hard relate’. “If you are told you have ten days to do your homework, you will feel lethargic and do it on the last day. But if you were told you only have one hour left, you will do everything you can to finish it in time,” the 22-year-old said with a laugh.  You don’t need to know cricket to relate to that, if you are someone who works better on the clock with a deadline, you’d have had a giggle.

Here, however, she was talking about the time when she was left out of the Indian T20I side for the Asia Cup. She was watching a YouTube video of Him-eesh Madaan, a motivational speaker and trainer from Noida. “I watch a lot of videos of him. I just watched one of his videos and in that, he said ‘2023 is just 50 days away.’ And that is when it hit me,” the southpaw had told this daily before leaving for South Africa.

That she had only a couple of months to put up a show and make a comeback before the 2023 T20 World Cup lit a fire in her belly. The hunger to make a comeback, not just to the Indian squad, but to the playing XI only grew. For her, it was a chance to give it all in her preparation and do everything that is in her control to ensure a seat on that flight to South Africa. “When you are told to do something in a longer span of time, your intensity might be less. If the timespan is shorter, you do it with much more force and enthusiasm. That was in my mind. So, I built a ‘let’s give all’ attitude.”

She went back to the drawing board, worked on her power game, and did a lot of gym sessions and training sessions both at the National Cricket Academy and back home in Baroda. And it all came in handy during the domestic season. Whether it was for Baroda or West Zone or the Senior T20 Challengers, irrespective of what role she had to play, she went in with the same attitude — not leaving anything behind when she walked off the field. She started trusting her instincts more, especially with respect to playing shots, which she, in the past, might not have. She also trusted herself to instinctively take an open stance depending on the situation of the match, and she believes that it opened up her leg side game.

“In T20s, the game is evolving and the bowlers are sharp. They have match-ups and we have to counter it on how to score boundaries. I also worked on my singles and doubles. In T20s, dot ball is a big problem which leads to dismissal. I worked on strike rotation consciously and it has helped a lot.” The end result — 638 runs in 16 innings at an average of 39.87 and a strike rate of 110.18. As she wanted, she had done everything she could and left the ball in the court of the selectors, who picked her not just for the Australia T20Is in December at home but also for the tri-series and T20 World cup in South Africa.

Dream come true

As Yastika made it to the World Cup squad, she had accomplished what she wanted as she played in the opening game for India against Pakistan with Smriti Mandhana missing out due to injury. In doing so, she had fulfilled a long-time dream of hers and her friend, Jemimah Rodrigues.

“During our U-19 days at West Zone, we used to dream of playing and winning a World Cup together,” said Yastika. “When I was dropped, Jemi (Jemimah) messaged me saying ‘we are going to play in the World Cup. I have full belief in you.’ It is something I had not expected. I had no words to say what kind of impact it had on me.”

Yastika is here in South Africa and has played in a T20 WC game. When asked what her goal was, she had kept it simple. “Bas Jaa rahe toh, jeetna hai (If we are going then, we have to win). If we don’t, it won’t be fun. And we believe that we will.”

<br /> GQEBERHA: India’s Yastika Bhatia had just given a quote, which, if shared on social media, would have likely received replies and comments, saying ‘hard relate’. “If you are told you have ten days to do your homework, you will feel lethargic and do it on the last day. But if you were told you only have one hour left, you will do everything you can to finish it in time,” the 22-year-old said with a laugh.  You don’t need to know cricket to relate to that, if you are someone who works better on the clock with a deadline, you’d have had a giggle.</p> <p>Here, however, she was talking about the time when she was left out of the Indian T20I side for the Asia Cup. She was watching a YouTube video of Him-eesh Madaan, a motivational speaker and trainer from Noida. “I watch a lot of videos of him. I just watched one of his videos and in that, he said ‘2023 is just 50 days away.’ And that is when it hit me,” the southpaw had told this daily before leaving for South Africa.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.83 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.83 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>That she had only a couple of months to put up a show and make a comeback before the 2023 T20 World Cup lit a fire in her belly. The hunger to make a comeback, not just to the Indian squad, but to the playing XI only grew. For her, it was a chance to give it all in her preparation and do everything that is in her control to ensure a seat on that flight to South Africa. “When you are told to do something in a longer span of time, your intensity might be less. If the timespan is shorter, you do it with much more force and enthusiasm. That was in my mind. So, I built a ‘let’s give all’ attitude.”</p> <p>She went back to the drawing board, worked on her power game, and did a lot of gym sessions and training sessions both at the National Cricket Academy and back home in Baroda. And it all came in handy during the domestic season. Whether it was for Baroda or West Zone or the Senior T20 Challengers, irrespective of what role she had to play, she went in with the same attitude — not leaving anything behind when she walked off the field. She started trusting her instincts more, especially with respect to playing shots, which she, in the past, might not have. She also trusted herself to instinctively take an open stance depending on the situation of the match, and she believes that it opened up her leg side game.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.83 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.83 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>“In T20s, the game is evolving and the bowlers are sharp. They have match-ups and we have to counter it on how to score boundaries. I also worked on my singles and doubles. In T20s, dot ball is a big problem which leads to dismissal. I worked on strike rotation consciously and it has helped a lot.” The end result — 638 runs in 16 innings at an average of 39.87 and a strike rate of 110.18. As she wanted, she had done everything she could and left the ball in the court of the selectors, who picked her not just for the Australia T20Is in December at home but also for the tri-series and T20 World cup in South Africa.Dream come true </p> <p>As Yastika made it to the World Cup squad, she had accomplished what she wanted as she played in the opening game for India against Pakistan with Smriti Mandhana missing out due to injury. In doing so, she had fulfilled a long-time dream of hers and her friend, Jemimah Rodrigues.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.83 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad241053 " id="quads-ad241053" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.83 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="3250057321"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>“During our U-19 days at West Zone, we used to dream of playing and winning a World Cup together,” said Yastika. “When I was dropped, Jemi (Jemimah) messaged me saying ‘we are going to play in the World Cup. I have full belief in you.’ It is something I had not expected. I had no words to say what kind of impact it had on me.”</p> <p>Yastika is here in South Africa and has played in a T20 WC game. When asked what her goal was, she had kept it simple. “Bas Jaa rahe toh, jeetna hai (If we are going then, we have to win). If we don’t, it won’t be fun. And we believe that we will.”<br />