Mumbai: Yastika Bhatia’s century at Lord’s on Sunday was a milestone for Indian women’s cricket, but for her family it also marked the end of a difficult era. The 25-year-old wicketkeeper-batter became the first woman to score a Test hundred at Lord’s, making 113 off 158 balls with 14 fours on Day Three of the first ever Women’s Test at the “Home of Cricket” against England.Her father, Harish Bhatia, said the innings was the result of months of hard work following a knee injury that ruled Yastika out of the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup and kept her out of cricket for about six months following ACL surgery in October.Speaking to TOI from Baroda, Harish recalled an incident from the Indian women’s team camp in Visakhapatnam in September that showed the bond Yastika shared with her teammates.“All his teammates were crying when Yastika got injured. They didn’t even let him pack his bags because he was hurt, and did that job for him. It was a very nice gesture by them. Later, they will all check on him when he is undergoing rehabilitation at BCCI’s Center of Excellence in Bengaluru. encouraging messages Now, I want to thank all his Indian teammates for their support during this phase,” Harish said. TOI’s Bhatia from Baroda.Harish said the injury disappointed Yastika as he wanted to help India in the ODI World Cup, but he quickly shifted his focus to returning to international cricket.“Yastika definitely fell after the injury, because she wanted to help India win the ODI World Cup last year. But, she wanted India to win the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup, and told me, ‘Dad, I will help India win the T20 World Cup.’ Unfortunately, that was not going to happen, but he scored a great century at Lord’s today,” Harish said.He credited former India wicketkeeper Kiran More, who mentored Yastika over the years, for helping him during his recovery and preparing him for the England tour.“Yastika prepared a lot to prepare for the tour. The credit goes to Kiran More, who was like a father-figure to her, guiding her every step. He always told her: ‘Yastika, you are my best student.’ At the stage of his injury, he continued to encourage him, to tell him. This phase is over. Only six months.’ Kiran sir trained him for hours together, in wicketkeeping and batting. Yastika is also a hardworking and extremely disciplined cricketer. I have never seen him without a training session. When we bought a new house in Kanali in Vadodara, he was there for ‘Griha Pravesh,’ which we did on his birthday on November 1, but after that, he was not here, because he was rehabbing at the CoE and with the Indian team,” said Harish Bhatia.He also thanked those who supported his return.“I want to thank all her coaches and trainers, who helped her regain her fitness, the CoE and Baroda, the BCCI, the selectors and the Indian women’s team head coach Amol Muzumdar for showing faith in her ability despite her ACL injury,” he added.Moreover Yastika’s century was the reward for his persistence after facing injuries and setbacks.“It was a good century, he played very well. He was always talented, but really struggled with injuries, and always fell behind. However, Yastika has now proved his worth with this special ton in the Lord’s Test,” More told TOI.Lord’s century followed another important contribution earlier in the England tour, when Yastika scored 54 off 40 balls in the first T20I at Chelmsford. Before that, she managed just 41 runs in four matches at an average of 13.66 during the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup, where India exited at the league stage.Former India captain Diana Edulji believes the innings could be a turning point in Yastika’s career.“It’s an amazing century. I hope it’s the turning point in Yastika’s career. She needs to stay injury-free from here and focus on consistency,” Edulji told TOI.With his hundred, Yastika also joined an elite list of Indian cricketers to score a Test century at Lord’s. The list includes Vinoo Mankad (1952), Gundappa Viswanath (1979), Dilip Vengsarkar (1979, 1982 and 1986), Ravi Shastri (1990), Mohammed Azharuddin (1990), Sourav Ganguly (1996), Ajit Agarkar (2002), Rahul Dravid (2002) KL Rahul (2021). and 2025).