Taniya Bhatia is an Indian cricketer, who plays for the Indian national cricket team primarily as a wicket-keeper. At the age of 13, she became the youngest women cricketer to play for the Punjab senior team at the national level. In 2018, Bhatia was named one of the five breakout stars in women’s cricket by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Wiki/Biography
Taniya Bhatia, also known as Taniyaa Sapna Bhatia was born on Friday, 28 November 1997 (age 25 years; as of 2022) in Chandigarh, India. Her zodiac sign is Sagittarius. She did her schooling at DAV Senior Secondary School, Chandigarh. As of 2022, she is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts (second year) from MCM DAV College for Women, Chandigarh. Taniya grew up watching her father and uncle play cricket. Her father played cricket at the all-India university level in the 80s. He was also a stand-by wicketkeeper for Punjab in the late 80s. Quite naturally, she too was inclined towards the sport and started her training at a nearby cricket academy when she was seven years old. A year later, she joined the cricket academy at DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector8, Chandigarh. At DAV, she first trained under Sukhwinder Bawa and later under Yograj Singh. After four years of cricket training at the DAV academy, Bhatia appeared for the Punjab U-19 trials and made the cut immediately. She was 11 years old at that time. As of 2022, she is being trained under coach RP Singh.
Taniya Bhatia during her practise session
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 3″
Hair Colour: Brown
Eye Colour: Brown
Family
Parents & Siblings
Taniya Bhatia is the daughter of Sanjay Bhatia and Sapna Bhatia. Her father works at the Central Bank of India in Chandigarh. She has an elder sister, Sanjana, and a younger brother, Sehaj. Sehaj is also a cricketer, who plays for the U-19 Indian cricket team.
Taniya Bhatia and her mother, Sapna Bhatia
Taniya Bhatia and her brother, Sehaj Bhatia
Taniya Bhatia with her sister, Sanjana Bhatia
Taniya Bhatia with her family
Husband
As of 2022, Taniya is unmarried.
Cricket
Domestic
Taniya made her domestic cricket debut in 2008, playing for the Punjab U-19 team in the nationals. She became the youngest player to play for the senior Punjab team in the inter-state domestic tournament at the age of 13. In 2015, she represented the U-19 North Zone team as a skipper in the inter-zonal cricket tournament in Guwahati. In the tournament, she scored 227 runs and took 10 wickets. When she turned 16, she joined India A squad and played in the warm-up matches. At one point, she decided to quit the sport as she went on a professional slump for around two years. However, her family motivated her to continue her cricketing career. Taniya has also played for the Supernovas team in the Indian Premier League.
Taniya Bhatia representing team Supernovas during an IPL match against Trailblazers
International
Taniya made her Women’s T20 International debut for India on 13 February 2018 against South Africa Women at Potchefstroom. In the same year, on 11 September, she made her Women’s One Day International (WODI) debut against Sri Lanka at Galle.
Taniya Bhatia batting for team India in a One Day International match against Sri Lanka
Subsequently, she played for team India in the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 tournament in West Indies. In January 2020, Taniya represented India at the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia. On 16 June 2021, Taniya made her Test cricket debut for India against England at Bristol.
Taniya Bhatia playing for India during a test match
Bhatia was named in India’s squad for the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand in January 2022. In the same year, Bhatia represented India at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
Taniya Bhatia with the Indian squad before the finals of the T20 series against England in 2022
Records
- Holds 9th rank in Most Catches in an Innings (3) in International Test Matches
- Holds 9th rank in Most Catches in a Series (11) in One Day Internationals
- Holds 8th rank in Most Catches in Career (23) in T20 Internationals
- Holds 5th rank in Most runs in an Innings (44*) in International Test Matches
- Holds 6th rank in Most Dismissals in an Innings (4) in T20 Internationals
- Holds 3rd rank in Most Stumpings in Career (45) in T20 Internationals
Favourites
- Cricketer(s) (Wicket-keeper): Sarah Taylor, Alyssa Healy
Facts/Trivia
- Taniya loves travelling and spending time with her family in her leisure time.
- She is a Right-hand batswoman and wicket-keeper.
- Her jersey number is 28.
Taniya Bhatia during a cricket match
- Taniya Bhatia is the first woman cricketer from Chandigarh to represent India at the international level.
- In an interview, Taniya shared that she was the only girl at her training centre. Sharing her experience as the only girl amongst the boys at the institute, Taniya revealed that she wasn’t treated any differently. She said,
For Yograj sir I was a trainee, not a girl-trainee. Plus I had such short hair back then that people there, unless they were talking to me, didn’t realise a long time that I was a girl!”
Adding that starting off in a boys academy prepared her better for professional cricket, Bhatia said,
Their body language is different, and that rubs off on you. Most of them were older to me and keeping for them sharpened my reflexes, I felt. My basics are strong because I was constantly playing with the boys since I started. It also made me mentally tough. Yograj sir never treated me any differently either, thankfully. I’ll never forget the things I learnt under him. It helped me get disciplined. I watched my fitness like a hawk. It felt comparatively easier to play with girls of my age later. If you set the standards high when you’re still learning, it’s easier to cope with the challenges of top-flight cricket when you grow up.”
- There was a point in her career when she nearly decided to quit. Talking about it in an interview, she said,
If you fall down at a time when you’re expecting your career graph to only climb upwards, it becomes very difficult to cope with at that young age. I almost quit cricket altogether.”
- Taniya Bhatia is being managed by FairPlay Sports, an athlete management company in India.
- A pet lover, Taniya has a pet dog named Theo. She is so obsessed with her pet dog that she has got a tattoo inked for him.
Taniya Bhatia and her pet dog
- Taniya has got several tattoos inked on her body including both her forearms, her right ankle, and her left calf.
Taniya Bhatia’s tattoos
- Bhatia follows a strict workout regimen to keep herself fit.
Taniya Bhatia during her workout session
- On 26 September 2022, Taniya took to Twitter to inform her fans that someone stole her bag containing cash, cards, watches, and jewellery during her stay at the Marriot Hotel London Maida Vale. Her Tweet read,
Shocked and disappointed at Marriot Hotel London Maida Vale management; someone walked into my personal room and stole my bag with cash, cards, watches and jewellery during my recent stay as a part of Indian Women’s Cricket [email protected] So unsafe.”
Further demanding a quick investigation into the matter, she wrote,
Hoping for a quick investigation and resolution of this matter. Such lack of security at @ECB_cricket’s preferred hotel partner is astounding. Hope they will take cognisance as well. @Marriott @BCCIWomen @BCCI.”
