Ekta Bisht is an Indian

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. She plays as a

slow left-arm orthodox Left-arm orthodox spin or left-arm off spin, also known as slow left-arm orthodox spin bowling, is a type of spin bowling in cricket. Bowlers using this technique bowl with their left-arm and a finger spin action. Their normal delivery spins ...

bowler. She was India's first international woman cricketer from

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

. She was also the first cricketer for India to take a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a

Women's Twenty20 International Women's Twenty20 international (WT20I) is the shortest form of women's international cricket. A women's Twenty20 international is a 20 overs-per-side cricket match between two of the International Cricket Council (ICC) members. The very firs ...

match.

Early life

Ekta Bisht was born on 8 February 1986 in

Almora Almora ( Kumaoni: ') is a municipal corporation and a cantonment town in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Almora district. Almora is located on a ridge at the southern edge of the Kumaon Hills of the ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

(now in

) to Kundan Singh Bisht and Tara Bisht. Her father is a retired

Havaldar Havildar or havaldar ( Hindustani: or (Devanagari), (Perso-Arabic)) is a rank in the Indian and Pakistani armies, equivalent to sergeant. It is not used in cavalry and armoured units, where the equivalent is daffadar. Like a British serge ...

of the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

. Ekta Bisht has three elder siblings, Kaushal Bisht, Vineet Bisht and Shweta Bisht. Bisht began playing cricket at the age of six. She would play the sport with boys, which often drew an audience as she was the only girl on a male team. Receiving only a pension of for his former army job, Bisht's father opened a tea stall in

to supplement the family's income and support his daughter's cricketing career. She was the captain of Kumaon University in North zone. The family's finances improved after Ekta was selected for the national team in 2011, and began receiving funding from sponsors. Following an increase in her father's Army pension, the family was able to close the tea stall.

Career

Bisht played for

between 2006–07 and 2012–13. She was the captain of Kumaon University in North zone. She had been mentored by Liyakat Ali in her early years, who coached Uttaranchal Women's Cricket Association team from 2003 to 2006. Bisht was selected for the

India women's national cricket team The India women's national cricket team, also known as Women in Blue, represents India in international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test ...

in 2011, and made her WODI debut on 2 July 2011 against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. On 3 October 2012, Bisht took a

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

outplayed during the match of the ICC World Women Twenty20 played in

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. India has restricted

to a modest 100 for eight after Bisht claimed a hat-trick in the last over. Bisht was part of the Indian team to reach the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the

2017 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup was an international women's cricket tournament that took place in England from 24 June to 23 July 2017. It was the eleventh edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, and the third to be held in England (after ...

where the team lost to

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by nine runs.England v India: Women's World Cup final – live!
''The Guardian'', 23 July 2017. In December 2017, she was named as one of the players in both the ICC Women's ODI Team of the Year and the ICC Women's T20I Team of the Year. She was the only woman named in both squads. In October 2018, she was named in India's squad for the

2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 The 2018 Women's World Twenty20 was the sixth edition of the Women's World Twenty20, hosted in the West Indies from 9 to 24 November 2018. It the second World Twenty20 hosted by the West Indies (after the 2010 edition), and the West Indies wer ...

tournament in the West Indies. During the

, Bisht claimed 5 wickets in 18 runs against

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, leading

to win by 95 runs. With this, she broke her own record of 5 wickets in 8 runs against

in February, the same year. It is said that 12 years back (2005)m in the same setup, she was injured and had to leave the match midway. But in 2017 she redeemed herself with her historical win. As of November 2018, she has had 79 ODI wickets and 50 T20I wickets averaging 21.98 and 14.50 respectively. Bisht was also Joint second highest wicket taker in ODI's in 2017 at an average of 17.27 with 29 wickets in 16 matches. She is the fifth Indian woman to cross the 100 wicket mark with 129 international wickets and India's fifth highest wicket taker in ODI's and third highest in T20I's. She is also praised by Sachin Tendulkar for her fielding skills, who also happens to be her favorite cricketer. In May 2021, she was named in India's

Test squad Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

for their one-off match against the

England women's cricket team The England women's cricket team represents England and Wales in international women's cricket. Since 1998, they have been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by the Women's Cricket Associatio ...

. In January 2022, she was named as one of three reserve players in India's team for the

2022 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2022 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup was the twelfth edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, which was held in New Zealand in March and April 2022. It was originally scheduled for 6 February to 7 March 2021 but was postponed by one year due ...

in New Zealand. In December 2023, she was signed by

Royal Challengers Bangalore The Royal Challengers Bengaluru, formerly Royal Challengers Bangalore, also known as RCB, are a professional Twenty20, Twenty20 cricket team based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008 ...

at the Women's Premier League auction, for the 2024 season.

Awards

In November 2017, the

government decided to confer the year's

Khel Ratna The Khel Ratna Award (; Sport Jewel Award), officially known as the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, formerly known as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, is the highest sporting honour of India. It is awarded annually by the Ministry of ...

award to bowler Ekta Bisht and

Dronacharya Award The Dronacharya Award, officially known as Dronacharya Award for Outstanding Coaches in Sports and Games, is sports coaching honour of the Republic of India. The award is named after Drona, often referred as "Dronacharya" or "Guru Drona", a cha ...

to her coach Liyakat Ali Khan.

References

External links

Female Cricket interviews Ekta Bisht
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bisht, Ekta 1986 births Living people Cricketers from Uttarakhand Indian women cricketers India women Test cricketers India women One Day International cricketers India women Twenty20 International cricketers Uttar Pradesh women cricketers Railways women cricketers Uttarakhand women cricketers IPL Trailblazers cricketers IPL Velocity cricketers Women's Twenty20 International cricket hat-trick takers Kumaun University alumni People from Almora