When Kranti Gaud picked up her phone after the second day’s play at Lord’s, she wasn’t calling home to talk about the five wickets she had just taken.
Instead, she turned the camera towards the honours board.
Thousands of kilometres away, in Ghuwara, a small nagar panchayat in Madhya Pradesh’s Chhatarpur district, her father Munna Singh watched. His daughter, who had once asked him to let her give up studies and pursue cricket, had just earned a place on one of the game’s most sacred walls.
Creating lasting memories as the 1️⃣st woman to have her name etched on the Test honours board at Lord’s 🥹
🎥 𝙍𝙖𝙬, 𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡, 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 ft. Kranti Gaud 🤍#TeamIndia | #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/SUWTqEmL6p
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) July 12, 2026
“It was a very happy moment for our family,” Munna told The Indian Express. “Everyone at home was so happy.”
Kranti returned figures of 5/37 in the first innings, including the prized wicket of England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt. She added 2/54 in the second to finish with match figures of 7/91 and the Player of the Match award, while Yastika Bhatia’s 113 made her the first woman to score a Test hundred at Lord’s. Together with Smriti Mandhana’s twin fifties, the performances powered India to a 270-run victory.
The scoreboard will remember the wickets and runs. It won’t tell you what came before them.
“I never imagined that one day she would have her name on the honours board at Lord’s,” Munna said. “When she said she wanted to play cricket, our whole family agreed. We stood behind her. We hoped she would achieve something, and today she has.”
For a former police constable raising six children, it was a leap of faith. Kranti began with tennis-ball cricket in the police quarters before coach Rajiv Bilthare spotted her talent. Soon, others took notice.
“People used to tell us she had the talent and that no one could stop her,” Munna recalled. “Wherever she played, she made a name for herself. We kept believing that one day she would play for India.”
In just over 12 months as an international cricketer, Kranti has won the ODI World Cup and helped script one of India’s greatest overseas Test victories.
Munna credits the senior players for helping her settle in the Indian dressing room.
“Harmanpreet Kaur has supported her a lot,” he said, “as has Deepti Sharma. All the senior players have encouraged her.”
India’s Kranti Gaud (second right) celebrates with her teammates after taking the wicket of England’s Tammy Beaumont in the first Women’s Test at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London. (PA via AP)
If Kranti’s story gathered pace quickly, Yastika’s was interrupted time and again.
For former India wicketkeeper Kiran More, who has worked with the left-hander since 2021, the hundred at Lord’s carried the weight of every setback that had come before it.
“What she has gone through in the last three years…” More said, pausing to reflect on a run of injuries that included ankle, calf, wrist and knee setbacks. “She was very upset. She kept asking, ‘Why did this happen to me?’”
Setbacks
The toughest blow came last September, when a serious knee injury forced several months of rehabilitation and ruled her out of the ODI World Cup and the 2026 Women’s Premier League.
“I always told her, ‘Keep believing in yourself. This is part of life and part of every sportsperson’s career. You have to make a comeback.’”
The comeback was built away from the cameras, in rehabilitation sessions, lonely days and the hope that hard work would be rewarded.
“The way she batted, her determination… this Test match proved she is mentally very strong,” More said. “To come back and fight like this is not easy.”
When the century arrived on Sunday, the raw emotion took over. Yastika took her helmet off, showed her bat to all parts of the ground, and knelt down on the historic Lord’s turf, and kissed the grass.
Another magical moment celebrated with pure joy 🫶🤍
🎥 Dressing room scenes to cherish from Day 3️⃣ as Yastika Bhatia joined the Lord’s Honours Board ✍️#TeamIndia | #ENGvIND | @YastikaBhatia pic.twitter.com/CnIucChv0d
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) July 13, 2026
More began working with Yastika after former India batter and coach WV Raman recommended the left-hander to him.
“Raman deserves a lot of credit,” More said. “He recommended her to me. That’s how she came to work with me. He saw something in her very early.”
“I never thought about it (about her scoring a hundred at Lord’s),” he admitted. “But as a coach, you always believe in the person you are coaching.”
“She keeps things very simple,” he said. “She is very disciplined in her work ethic, her fitness, her sleeping habits. Work ethic always saves you. I always told her that if she kept working hard, one day it would be her day.”
Yastika Bhatia of India celebrates after scoring a hundred during Day 3 of the Only Test match between England Women and India Women at Lord’s Cricket Ground, London, England, on July 12, 2026. (CREIMAS)
At Lord’s, it was.
To More, the innings was bigger than one century.
“Every woman cricketer will now believe she can score a hundred at Lord’s,” he said. “And anyone who has gone through injuries should look at Yastika. No matter what injury you have, you can always come back if you are talented and willing to work hard. For me, this is one of the biggest achievements of my career.”
India’s 270-run victory brought Kranti the Player of the Match award and Yastika the century she had spent years fighting for. At Lord’s, both journeys found their reward.
