Taniya Bhatia

Taniya's father, Sanjay Bhatia, a cricketer-turned-banker was a stand-by wicketkeeper for Punjab back in the late 80s, and so was her uncle Ajay. Quite naturally, Taniya too was inclined towards the same despite her father wanting to shape her into an all-rounder. But one of Taniya's childhood coaches convinced she'll make a good wicket keeper if that's what she had interest in. Sanjay wasted no time in enrolling Taniya into the nearest cricket academy when, on the sidelines of a casual Sunday picnic game, he saw his daughter fare better than what he'd expected from a seven-year-old playing with his bat. His encouragement towards his middle child to pick up a male-dominated sport was met with a lot of skepticism from the extended family and friends circle, but he assured his concerned wife they'll come around sooner than later.

In a year, as Taniya's interest in the game also peaked, she shifted coaching at the DAV Senior Secondary School in Chandigarh's Sector 8, first under the supervision of her father's batch-mate Sukhwinder Bawa and then six months later, Yograj Singh. The former India cricketer spotted the spark as well as the passion in her early, and she was picked in that year's batch of up and coming kids Yograj would keep a close eye on. After four years of training at the DAV academy, Taniya appeared for Punjab trials at the age of 11 and made the cut immediately. She still holds the distinction of being the youngest girl to represent Punjab in U19. Once in the state team, her performances went up further, and in a year, she found herself in the senior state team. And at 16, Taniya was already playing for India A in the warm-ups against touring sides.

Runs dried up the next season, and a near two-year slump in form meant Taniya lost her spot in not only the A team but also the Challenger Trophy, which back in the day consisted of one team comprising the best of U19 talent. She slipped out of the selectors' minds in the lead up to the World Cup year and began to lose interest in cricket consequently. Taniya's parents, however, made sure that she never gave up on her dream and helped her stay focussed by supporting her mentally. Once Taniya worked on her fitness, there was no looking back. January 2018 was a month of double delight for the Bhatia family. In a strangely happy coincidence, after nine years and several transfers later, Sanjay's (Taniya's father) comeback to Chandigarh coincided with Taniya's T20I debut in South Africa.

An opener for Punjab in T20s, Taniya though has always been slotted in the middle order in the 15 T20Is for India. At the Challengers in Alur, Taniya was run out for 1 before not getting a chance to bat in the next two games. But her unbeaten 29 to wrap up a do-or-die last league game for India Blue, followed by a quickfire 28 at a strike rate of nearly 165 in the final, saw her overtake India's first-choice 'keeper and backup, Sushma Verma and Nuzhat Parween, to earn her maiden ODI call-up. What caught their attention was the ease with which she played her strokes against both pace and spin, notably her footwork against established India spinners.