List: Emerging Players in Women’s Cricket- From Yastika Bhatiya to Renuka Singh and Jemimah Rodrigues

Over the years, women’s cricket has been criticized for being slow because the bowling is slower and the shot-hitting ability is lesser as, relatively, women’s bodies lack the strength of men. Their matches and tournaments don’t fetch the engagement with the audiences in the stadium as well as on the screens as the men’s cricket does. But that doesn’t mean that Women’s cricket cannot match the levels set by men.

Lately, Women’s cricket has emerged and reached new heights. As the demands of the game have changed over time with players’ fitness levels to play across all formats, women cricketers have given tough competition to men’s bowling styles. 

Women’s cricket is strengthening its roots globally, not just in the international format but with the domestic leagues. Young sports talents have always impressed the cricket fraternity because of the new and innovative skills and techniques they bring to the field. 

This article lists young and emerging talents in women’s cricket worldwide that have immensely impressed cricket experts and fans. 

Emerging players in Women’s Cricket

1 Renuka Singh 

The ICC awarded the emerging woman cricketer of the Year 2022 award; Renuka Singh is one of the most promising newcomers in women’s cricket. The right-arm medium-fast bowler Renuka debuted for the Indian Women’s cricket team in 2021 for T20Is and 2022 for ODIs. 

Since her debut, she has proven to be an incredible asset for the team and has taken 31 and 18 wickets in T20Is and ODIs, respectively. Renuka also became one of the most successful Indian bowlers to have taken a five-wicket haul in the T20Is. 

Renuka Singh recently brought the Laurel of a Silver medal for the Indian Women’s cricket team in Commonwealth Games, 2022, in Birmingham. 

2 Darcie Brown 

The 20-year-old emerging Star bowler of the Australian women’s cricket team, Darcie Brown, has repeatedly outshined others to make an important place in the team’s squad. 

Darcie has dismissed and sent 15 Batters back to the respective team’s dugout in 10 ODIs with a bowling average of 23.13. In the T20Is, Darcie has only played two matches yet and has taken a wicket. 

Darcie Brown is one of the best fast bowlers. The women’s cricket team has witnessed in the history of the sport. She has bowled the fourth and fifth fastest ball in the history of women’s cricket. She also became a crucial part of the Australian women’s cricket team squad in the Commonwealth Games 2022, Birmingham, and won the gold medal. 

3 Yastika Bhatia 

The wicket-keeper batter and slow left-arm orthodox spinner, Yastika Bhatia, are among the best-emerging spinners in the Indian women’s cricket team. She debuted for the Indian cricket team in 2021 against Australia and has been a crucial squad member ever since. 

Having played 27 matches across all game formats, Yastika Bhatia has scored three half-centuries in ODIs with the top score of 64 at the age of just 22 years. 

Bhatia has scored 478 runs in 18 ODI matches with a batting average of 28.11 and a strike rate of 73.29. Yastika Bhatia recently brought the Laurel of a Silver medal for the Indian Women’s cricket team in Commonwealth Games, 2022, Birmingham. Currently, she is roped in with a WPL team franchise, Mumbai Indians. 

4 Jemimah Rodrigues

Indian women’s cricket team’s most promising all-rounder Jemimah Rodrigues has become one of the best-emerging cricketers in women’s cricket. Jemimah Rodrigues debuted for the Indian women’s cricket team at 18 when she got a call for the team’s ODI match against Australia. 

The 22-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues has played T20 cricket for the largest part of her career and has played 80 matches. Rodrigues has scored 1704 runs in the shortest format of cricket with a batting average and top score of 29.89 and 76, respectively. 

She is also regarded as one of the best fielders in the Indian women’s cricket team and has taken 20 catches to dismiss batters of various oppositions. Jemimah Rodrigues recently brought the Laurel of a Silver medal for the Indian Women’s cricket team in Commonwealth Games, 2022, Birmingham. Currently, she is roped in with a WPL team franchise, Delhi Capitals. 

5 Georgia Plimmer

Georgia Plimmer is the second youngest cricketer on the list of Emerging Cricketers in Women’s Cricket. The 19-year-old New Zealand batter Georgia Plimmer has proved to be one of the best middle order matters for New Zealand’s women’s cricket team. 

Georgia Plimmer debuted for the team in 2022 against West Indies and Australia for ODIs and T20Is, respectively. Georgia Plimmer has played 7 matches in T20Is and 2 in ODIs and has scored 46 and 17 runs, respectively. 

She was also picked for the 2023 ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup and became the leading scorer for New Zealand women’s cricket team with 155 runs. Georgia Plimmer recently brought the Laurel of a Bronze medal for New Zealand’s  Women’s cricket team in the Commonwealth Games, 2022, Birmingham. 

6 Alice Capsey

Alice Capsey is the youngest cricketer we have on the list of Emerging Cricketers in Women’s Cricket. The 18-year-old Alice Capsey made headlines when she debuted for England’s women’s cricket team at the age of just 17 in 2022 for T20Is against South Africa and in ODIs against India. 

The all-rounder player has already become one of the key players for the English cricket team. In her career, she has played 4 ODIs and 15 T20Is and has scored 80 and 307 runs with a batting average of 20 and 25.58 in both formats, respectively. 

With her hard-hitting ability, she has scored 2/2 centuries and has taken a wicket in the T20Is format. She was recently nominated for the emerging woman cricketer of the Year 2022 award by the ICC and is currently roped in with a WPL team franchise, Delhi Capitals. 

7 Hayley Matthews

The Barbadian all-rounder Hayley Matthews plays international cricket for the West Indies women’s cricket team. Hayley made her debut for the team in 2014 against New Zealand for the T20Is and against Australia for the ODIs. 

Hayley Matthews has played 72 ODIs and 69 T20Is in her career and scored 1,852 and 1,252 runs with a batting average of 27.23 and 18.68 in both formats, respectively. Hayley has scored centuries in both formats for the West Indies women’s cricket team, with three centuries in ODIs and one century in T20Is, along with six half-centuries in both formats. 

Over the years, she has played for multiple domestic cricket teams in domestic cricket leagues such as the Women’s T20 Challenge, Women’s Big Bash League, and now the Women’s Premier League (WPL). Currently, she is roped in with a WPL team franchise, Mumbai Indians.

Conclusion 

Domestic cricket Leagues have consistently been one of the best platforms to give emerging young talents a chance to showcase their brilliance. Various initiatives have been taken to boost Women’s cricket’s popularity and give young ladies a platform to showcase their talents and ultimately get the bigger opportunity to perform on the big stage of international cricket for the national team. 

One such stage is the Women’s Premier League (Women’s IPL) by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The WPL witnessed a world-class performance from Hayley Matthews and Jemimah Rodrigues, which landed them an opportunity to play in the next big tournaments for their respective national teams. 

Seeing the sport’s popularity, young ladies from across the world now aspire to take cricket as a career and seek to play it professionally instead of just watching it at home and becoming the next best-emerging stars in women’s cricket.