The first Indian cricketer to take an international T20I hat-trick, Ekta Bisht is a streetsmart left-arm spinner who is quite classical in her action and methods. She is also the first Uttarakhand cricketer to play for the country. She loves to entice the batsmen with loop and guile, and can be an extremely tough customer to deal with, especially if the pitch has a semblance of help for the spinners. Ekta made her international debut in 2011 and since then, has been a vital cog of the Indian bowling group. She is one of those bowlers who likes to bowl with the cap on. Her father was an ex-Army staff who later on opened a tea stall in order to support Ekta's cricketing dreams. Financial crisis did threaten her family but the spinner's graph as a cricketer eventually helped to turn the tide, more so after the national selection. With over 100 international wickets, Ekta is one of the senior members in the current Indian outfit. She was conferred with the Khel Ratna award in 2017. She remains the only Indian women's cricketer to have an international hat-trick.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan