BCCI announces Team India squad for Women's T20 World Cup 2024
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) unveiled the 15-member squad representing India in the upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the United Arab Emirates this October. Harmanpreet Kaur will captain the team, with Smriti Mandhana serving as the vice-captain for the Women in Blue.
INDW vs SAW| Pooja Vastrakar’s four-fer coupled with Radha Yadav’s three-fer thrash South Africa
WPL 2024 | Twitter erupts as Ellyse Perry wreaks havoc with record six-fer
IND-W vs AUS-W | Twitter reacts at Deepti Sharma's slip fielding blip in Wankhede
IND-W vs AUS-W | Twitter in shock after after Sneh Rana walks off in tears following an accidental bump with Pooja Vastrakar
International career
Pooja Vastrakar is an Indian cricketer born on September 25, 1999, in Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh. She made her international debut for the Indian women's cricket team in 2018, playing both One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against South Africa. Known for her all-round capabilities, she is a right-arm medium-fast bowler and a right-handed batter. In domestic cricket, she represents Madhya Pradesh.
2018
- Pooja played her first Women’s One Day International (WODI) match on February 10, 2018, against South Africa at Potchefstroom.
- She played her first Women’s Twenty20 International (WT20I) match on February 13, 2018, also against South Africa at Potchefstroom.
- Later that year, she was chosen for India’s team for the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies. But she got injured in a warm-up match and could not play in the tournament.
2020
- Pooja was part of India’s squad for the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia.
2021
- In May, Pooja joined India’s Test cricket team for a match against England.
- She played her first Test match on June 16, 2021, against England.
- She also continued to play other formats for India.
2022
- Pooja was in India’s team for the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.
- During the World Cup, she scored 156 runs with an average of 26.00 and took 10 wickets with an average of 18.30.
- In July, she was selected to play in the cricket tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
2024
- Pooja was included in the Indian squad for the 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
- Her last Test match was played against South Africa at Chennai from June 28 to July 1, 2024.
- Her last WODI was played against South Africa at Bengaluru on June 23, 2024.
- Her last WT20I was played against Australia at Sharjah on October 13, 2024.
- In October 2024, she was injured and did not play in the Women’s T20 World Cup match against Pakistan. Another player, Sajeevan Sajana, played instead.
Leagues Participation
Pooja Vastrakar plays in several major women’s cricket leagues. Since 2023, she has been part of the Mumbai Indians team in the Women’s Premier League. She also played for Brisbane Heat in the 2022/23 season of the Women’s Big Bash League.
Women's Premier League
Pooja Vastrakar played in important women’s cricket leagues in recent years. She joined Mumbai Indians in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in 2023. In that year, she was the second highest paid player in the team after the first auction. In a 2023 WPL match against Delhi Capitals, she used a different way to hold the bat, gripping it by the blade. For the 2024/25 WPL season, Mumbai Indians did not include her in their squad.
|
Year
|
Team
|
Notes
|
|
2023–present
|
Mumbai Indians
|
Second highest paid player in 2023 auction; used a unique batting grip; not in 2024/25 squad
|
|
2022/23
|
Brisbane Heat
|
Played in the Women’s Big Bash League
|
Women's Big Bash League
Pooja Vastrakar played for Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) during the 2022/23 season. She signed a contract with the team on July 28, 2022, when she was 22 years old. The team noticed her while India toured Australia and during the Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand. In that World Cup, she took 10 wickets, the second highest for India, and scored 67 runs in 59 balls.
|
Year
|
Team
|
Notes
|
|
2022/23
|
Brisbane Heat
|
Signed in July 2022; second highest wicket taker for India in World Cup; scored 67 runs in 59 balls
|
Domestic career
Pooja Vastrakar started playing cricket with boys near her home in Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh. She later practiced batting at a stadium. Her coach, Ashutosh Shrivastava, saw her talent and began training her. She started as a batter but added fast bowling after joining the Madhya Pradesh team. At age 15, she joined the India Green Women Squad. In 2016, she hurt her knee during a domestic match and had surgery. This injury put her chance to join the national team at risk. Her play in the 2018 Challenger Trophy helped her get selected for India's tour to South Africa.
Records and achievements
Pooja Vastrakar has many important achievements in her cricket career. She played for India in big tournaments like the 2018 ICC Women’s World T20, 2020 T20 World Cup, 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup, and 2022 Commonwealth Games. Her success helps young girls in her hometown, Shahdol, to start sports and change how people think about women athletes.
- 2018
- Scored 51 runs in 56 balls against Australia on 12 March. She was the first woman to score this many runs at the No. 9 or lower batting position.
- 2020
- Played in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
- 2022
- Scored 156 runs with an average of 26.00 and took 10 wickets with an average of 18.30 at the Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.
- Highest score of 37 not out in women’s Twenty20 matches by batting position.
- Highest score of 62 not out in women’s One Day Internationals by batting position.
- Won a silver medal with India at the Commonwealth Games.
- Won a gold medal with India at the Asian Games.
- Helped India win first place in the Asia Cup team event.
- 2024
- Helped India win second place in the Asia Cup team event.
Personal life
Pooja Vastrakar comes from a large family in Madhya Pradesh. She grew up there and became a well-known cricket player. Many people follow her career.
Family
Pooja’s father worked for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and is retired now. Her mother died when Pooja was ten years old. She has four sisters and two brothers. Pooja is the youngest child in the family of seven siblings. She was born and raised in Bilaspur, Madhya Pradesh.
Finance
In 2025, Pooja’s net worth is about 5 million US dollars.
Scandals
In March 2024, Pooja posted a message on Instagram about political leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. The post caused some talk online. She deleted it after it got attention.
Fans
Pooja has around 106,000 followers on Instagram.
