Young India women’s batter Shubha Satheesh marked her arrival in international cricket in style as she hit a stellar fifty on her Test debut against England women in Mumbai. Harmanpreet Kaur, who is leading the Test team for the first time,j won the toss and opted to bat first in the one-off Test match against England women at DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai on Thursday. India were reduced to 47 for 2 after Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma were dismissed at 17 and 19 respectively.
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The 24-year-old walked in at number 3 and scored runs at a brisk rate to notch up her maiden fifty in just 49 balls. It was also the second-fastest century by an Indian woman in Test cricket and the third-fastest in women’s cricket history. Sangita Dabir’s fifty from 40 balls is the fastest amongst the Indians. The left-hand batter brought up her fifty with a boundary, which was the ninth boundary of her innings. Shubha forged a strong partnership with fellow debutant Jemimah Rodrigues to revive India to 136 for 2 in 27 overs at lunch. The debutants helped India rebuild after the early dismissals of the openers.
Beyond the Test arena, Shubha’s talent caught the eye of Women’s Premier League franchises in the T20 format. Royal Challengers Bangalore secured the services of the Karnataka batter for INR 10 lakh during the WPL 2024 Auction held on December 9.
Shubha, along with Jemimah and Renuka Thakur were handed their Test debuts. Jemimah is a regular in India’s ODI and T20I setup. Meanwhile, Renuka has played 7 WODIs. Shubha made her debut across all formats today and instantly made an impact.
