Pooja Vastrakar Biography : Age, Height, Early Life, Professional Life, Facts & Net Worth -

Pooja Vastrakar Biography

Full Name	Pooja Vastrakar
Date of Birth	25th September 1999
Birthplace	Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh
Age	22 years old
Nationality	Indian
Role	Bowler
Batting	Right Handed Bat
Bowling	Right-arm Medium
ODI Debut	10 February 2018
T20 Debut	13 February 2018
Test Debut	16 June 2021
Weight	61 kgs
Height	5’8 ft

Pooja Vastrakar Early Life

Odds are very high that you haven’t heard of a place called Shahdol. It is situated in the outskirts of Madhya Pradesh, filled with coal mines. In those dark coal mines, sometimes we find the shiniest of diamonds. Diamonds, who go on to represent the national team from such a remote place, like a certain Pooja Vastrakar.

Growing up, she was the perfect example of a ‘tom boy’. Vastrakar never did the things which most of the girls of her age did. Instead, she started playing cricket since a very young age of four. Not many women played cricket in Shahdol, hence she would either get mocked and taunted for her game, or she would only be allowed to field as the boys did most of the batting and bowling.

But that didn’t bother her much. The cricket field is where she spent most of her hours. Whenever she got a chance to bat against the boys of Shahdol’s BSNL Colony, she would prove her mettle. From playing in the streets, she found herself playing at the Gandhi Stadium. It is at this place that she met Ashutosh Srivastava.

Srivastava was then the coach of the Gulmohar Cricket Academy. He was surprised to see a small kid of just ten years of age, hitting the ball all around the park. He offered her a chance to play for his side, but on one condition. Since there was but no other girl playing cricket in Shahdol at the time, she would have to be a part of the men’s side. For someone who has rubbed shoulders with the men since four years of age, it was not any problem for Vastrakar. It was also when she was 10, that she lost her mother.

Pooja Vastrakar Domestic Career

Though she always wanted to be a batsman, Vastrakar injured her finger just days before she appeared for the trails of her state women’s team. Hence, she was forced to play as a bowler. However, as her finger healed, she returned to doing what she did best – hitting big sixes. This is how India got her ‘Chota Hardik Pandya’.

Vastrakar has played for the Shahdol Divisional Cricket Association. Her first major break in domestic cricket came on 9th March, 2013. On that day, she made her domestic debut against Odisha in a T20 game.

Pooja Vastrakar International Career

After around 3 and a half years since her domestic debut, Vastrakar was finally tipped to be a a part of the Indian team. The West Indian side was coming to India on November, 2016, and it was almost certain that Vastrakar would get her call up.

But as luck would have it, she twisted her knee during fielding just a month prior to the tour. That resulted in an anterior-cruciate ligament tear. Speaking to Firstpost about the injury, her coach Srivastava said “I thought she might not be able to bowl as well. But when I would talk to her, she would always be positive.” Sandeep Maheshwari’s videos helped Vastrakar during this phase of her life.

She finally got her debut against South Africa at Potchefstroom, a year and a half later. She was economical in that game, and conceded 39 runs in 8 overs.

However, she didn’t have anything to show for in the wickets’ column. Her T20I debut was against the same opposition at the same venue, a few days later. This time, though, she did take the wicket of the dangerous Sune Luus. She conceded 34 runs in her 4 overs.

Stats

In 20 T20I games, Vastrakar has picked up 16 wickets. She has also maintained a brilliant economy rate of under 7 runs per over. However, things have been tough for her in the ODIs. In 6 ODIs, Vastrakar has failed to pick up a single wicket. Her economy rate is just under 6 runs per over. She has picked up 3-wicket hauls, but doesn’t have a 4-wicket haul to show for.

She has scored 88 runs in the ODIs and 105 runs in the T20Is. In both the formats, her average is almost 20. Though she didn’t have much success with the ball in ODIs, she scored a brilliant half-century against Australia at Vadodara.

Pooja Vastrakar Stats

Pooja Vastrakar Batting and Fielding averages

	Mat	Inns	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	50	4s	6s
ODI	12	12	257	67	21.24	83.17	2	27	0
T20I	21	12	115	37*	19.17	132.18	0	12	2
Test	2	3	37	13	12.33	36.27	0	8	0

Pooja Vastrakar Bowling averages

	Mat	Overs	Runs	Wkts	BBI	Ave	Econ	SR
ODI	14	63	423	6	3/46	23.0	5.95	71.0
T20I	24	54	389	19	3/6	70.5	6.35	19.3
Test	2	40	115	5	3/49	25.5	6.59	48.8

Pooja Vastrakar Records and Achievements

One of Vastrakar’s standout performances with the ball include her figures of 3/6 against Malaysia in the Women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup in 2018.

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