"'Living a dream" is how Shubha Satheesh described her first day as an India cricketer ©BCCI
You can almost always gauge a cricketer's state of mind from their first scoring shot. For Shubha Satheesh, who had only 83 minutes to process her thoughts and emotions since receiving her India cap, it was a picture-perfect cover drive. Lauren Bell bowled the ball on a full length outside off, allowing the first of India's three debutants to lean into a drive straight out of any batting manual - a big forward stride, bending her back knee, head in the line of the ball as she creamed it through point, holding the pose for the photographers. If there were any nerves, Shubha wasn't showing it.
Over the next 120 minutes, the 24-year-old was at her confident best. The same cannot be said of the time she fielded broadcast and media questions, back-to-back, with nervous chuckles and awkward mic checks. But, among a slew of fifties and a 49 from the new India captain that propelled the hosts to commanding Day 1 score of 410/7, it was Shubha's 69 that stood out for a variety of reasons.
The Karnataka and Railways opener had likely earned the coveted one-down spot on Test debut by the virtue of her left-handedness, sent out strategically to maintain a left-right combo in the middle at the fall of Smriti Mandhana's wicket early. Whether it was by chance or by design, Shubha looked every inch the part. Like she'd been replicating a template from years of top-flight white-ball experience.
Except, unlike the others who piled on runs
