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Taniya Bhatia - Behind the stumps, a ‘pocket dynamite’
Taniya Bhatia has been even more lethal in her partnership with spinner Poonam Yadav—the leggie using flight and guile to beat batsmen, with Bhatia doing the rest.
Her teammates call her “the pocket dynamite” and Taniya Bhatia wears the moniker with pride. In the last year, she has worked hard on the “dynamite” bit, and it’s showing where it matters most—her livewire performance behind the stumps for India at the Women’s T20 World Cup has earned her five catches and three stumpings already from three matches and she is a noisy and constant presence on the field, urging her teammates on.
Bhatia has stood up to Shikha Pandey’s pace bowling to great effect—witness her stumping off Pandey to send back Australia’s Annabel Sutherland in the opening game, where Pandey makes a charging Sutherland miss by bowling wide of the off stump and Bhatia collects and effects the stumping with lightning athleticism.
Bhatia has been even more lethal in her partnership with spinner Poonam Yadav—the leggie using flight and guile to beat batsmen, with Bhatia doing the rest.
For the Chandigarh-based Bhatia, 22, this is the culmination of 16 months of focused work on fitness and keeping skills; her journey started after India were knocked out of the 2018 T20 World Cup in the semis.
Much of the work was done under former India wicket-keeper Kiran More, and the women’s team’s fielding coach Shubhadeep Ghosh.
“I have worked with Taniya in some camps held at Bangalore and Baroda,” More, who has played 49 Tests and 94 ODIs for India, said. “She has improved so much in the past two years. The way she is playing in Australia at the moment is just incredible. Also on Australian wickets, it is a bit easier to keep, because the ball carries nicely. This is helping Taniya to maneuver in a better way.
“The way she compliments the Indian spinners is extraordinary,” he added. “Indian spinners will be a key in the semis.”
If More’s workshops have helped, it’s Ghosh’s inputs that have allowed her to back her skills with improved agility.
“I am always in touch with More sir for suggestions,” Bhatia has said before she left for Australia. “Shubhadeep sir is another person who has been amazing to work with. He is innovative and creative when it comes to fielding drills. He also makes you learn how a keeper thinks behind the wickets to help out the bowler. Such preparation has made me mentally very strong.”
When not busy with tournaments, Bhatia spends most of her time training in Bengaluru with Karnataka batter Vanitha VR, who has also played for India. Vanitha too has helped Bhatia upgrade her fitness by introducing her to a team of nutritionists and trainers.
“Taniya has worked hard on her body anatomy,” Vanitha said. “She has a team of four people looking after her all the time. They monitor her sleep, meals and training, even while she is in a different time-zone.”
If Bhatia starts to come good with the bat, she will also solve a major problem for India, whose batting line-up has so far been over-reliant on teenage opener Shafali Verma’s explosive form.
She opens the innings for Punjab in domestic cricket and is known for her aggressive hitting, though her role in the Indian batting line-up has not been defined yet. While she usually bats lower down the order, she opened with Verma in India’s 2nd game, against Bangladesh. But it was only in the third game, against New Zealand, that she showed her potential, scoring a 25-ball 23 after coming in at one down.
“I’m ready to bat wherever the team wants me to bat. I can bat well up the order and I know I’m capable of scoring runs there,” Bhatia said. “The coach has told me that I will be required to bat at any number in the world cup. I am aware that I can clear the 30-yard circle and go for big shots. It was wonderful to get among the runs against New Zealand.”
More believes the best is yet to come.
“She is a smart cricketer. You will see more exciting performances from her with the bat and gloves too,” he said.
