Pooja Vastrakar (born 25 September 1999) is an Indian

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er who currently plays for

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. An all-rounder, she plays as a right-arm

medium Medium may refer to: Science and technology Aviation *Medium bomber, a class of war plane *Tecma Medium, a French hang glider design Communication * Media (communication), tools used to store and deliver information or data * Medium of ...

-fast bowler and right-handed batter. She made her international debut for India in 2018, against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

Early life

Vastrakar initially started playing cricket with the boys near her neighborhood in

Shahdol Shahdol is a city in Shahdol district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Shahdol district, The total geographical area of the district is . Demographics India census A census is the procedure ...

. She later started going to the stadium and practiced net batting where the coach Ashutosh Shrivastava realized her talent and started her formal training. 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. In 2016, while Vastrakar was fielding during a senior women's domestic match, she twisted her knee. This led to her getting surgery done for her anterior cruciate ligament tear which put her National call-up in jeopardy. The Challenger Trophy in 2018 played a pivotal role in Vastrakar's selection for India's South Africa tour. Vastrakar's father is a retired employee of

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Bharat, or Bharath, may refer to: * Bharat (term), the name for India in various Indian languages ** Bharata Khanda, the Sanskrit name for the Indian subcontinent (or South Asia) * Bharata, the name of several legendary figures or groups: ** Bhar ...

(BSNL). Her mother died when she was ten years old. She has four sisters and two brothers and is the youngest of seven siblings.

International career

She made her

Women's One Day International cricket Women's One Day International (WODI) is the limited overs form of women's cricket. Matches are scheduled for 50 overs, equivalent to the men's game. The first women's ODIs were played in 1973, as part of the first Women's World Cup which was ...

(WODI) debut for India Women against South Africa Women on 10 February 2018. She made her

Women's Twenty20 International cricket Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) is the shortest form of women's international cricket. A women's Twenty20 International is a 20 overs-per-side cricket match between two of the International Cricket Council (ICC) members. The first Twe ...

(WT20I) debut for India Women against South Africa Women on 13 February 2018. In October 2018, she was named in India's squad for the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the ICC Women's World Twenty20, hosted in the West Indies from 9 to 24 November 2018. It the second World Twenty20 hosted by the West Indies (after the 2010 edition), and the West In ...

tournament in the West Indies. However, she suffered an injury during a warm-up match, and was later ruled out of the tournament. In January 2020, she was named in India's squad for the

2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup The 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Women's T20 World Cup tournament. It was held in Australia between 21 February and 8 March 2020. The final took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on International Women's Day. Hosts ...

in Australia. In May 2021, she was named in India's

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for their one-off match against the England women's cricket team. Vastrakar made her Test debut on 16 June 2021, for India against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In January 2022, she was named in India's team for the

2022 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was the twelfth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, which was held in New Zealand in March and April 2022. It was originally scheduled for 6 February to 7 March 2021 but was postponed by one year due ...

in New Zealand. 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 The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, England.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vastrakar, Pooja 1999 births Living people People from Shahdol Cricketers from Madhya Pradesh India women Test cricketers India women One Day International cricketers India women Twenty20 International cricketers Madhya Pradesh women cricketers Central Zone women cricketers IPL Supernovas cricketers Mumbai Indians (WPL) cricketers Brisbane Heat (WBBL) cricketers Cricketers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India Commonwealth Games medallists in cricket Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Asian Games medalists in cricket Cricketers at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for India Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games