Akshita Bhagat India A Selection: 105kph Speed Queen Star’s Journey to Australia A Series

Akshita Bhagat India A selection marks a remarkable new chapter for a 19-year-old cricketer whose journey began with informal street cricket in Punjab. Once viewed mainly as a batting allrounder, Bhagat has suddenly found herself on the national pathway after making her name as a promising fast bowler.

Her breakthrough came at the start of 2026 during the Women’s Premier League’s Speed Queen talent hunt, a competition designed to identify India’s quickest female bowlers. Bhagat won the Under-23 category after recording a top speed of 105kph at the Mumbai finale.

The victory brought her into the spotlight and eventually helped open the door to India A cricket. Last month, she was selected for India’s A squads for the upcoming home series against Australia A, where she will feature in three one-day matches and a four-day game.

Who Is Akshita Bhagat?

Bhagat was born in Ropar and grew up in Kurali, a small town in Punjab’s Mohali district. Her introduction to cricket was far removed from elite academies and professional stadiums.

Like many young cricketers, she initially played street cricket with boys. Around the age of 13, however, an ordinary conversation changed the direction of her life.

One of the boys she regularly played with stopped appearing for several days. Bhagat learned that he had joined a cricket academy and planned to pursue the sport professionally.

That idea immediately appealed to her. She told her parents that she also wanted to join an academy. Although they initially hesitated, Bhagat remained determined.

Eventually, her father took her to the Chakwal School Cricket Academy, where she began training under coach Narinder Rathore.

From Batter to Fast-Bowling Allrounder

When Bhagat first entered the academy, batting was her primary focus. Bowling was something she wanted to explore only after becoming comfortable with the basics of cricket.

She eventually asked Rathore to watch her bowl. The coach quickly identified the raw ingredients of a potentially useful fast bowler.

That discovery changed her training routine. Instead of concentrating almost entirely on batting, Bhagat began developing both disciplines.

Within three years, she earned a place in Punjab’s Under-19 team. During the 2024-25 season, she made her List A debut, followed by appearances in T20 cricket.

However, opportunities remained limited. Before 2026, she had played only one List A match and two T20s for Punjab, meaning her development was taking place largely away from the national spotlight.

Speed Queen Became the Turning Point

The Speed Queen competition changed that situation almost overnight.

The WPL-backed talent hunt travelled across 23 cities and included Under-19 and Under-23 categories. The objective was straightforward: identify young women capable of generating serious bowling pace.

Bhagat emerged as the winner of the U-23 competition after reaching 105kph. The achievement was significant because she had not yet established herself through a large volume of domestic cricket.

Among the people presenting her winner’s cheque was Amol Muzumdar, the head coach of India’s women’s national team.

The moment gave Bhagat something that ordinary domestic appearances had not: visibility.

Her pace became a talking point, while her allround ability made her an even more interesting prospect. Within months, the teenager moved from being a relatively unknown domestic player to attending high-level fast-bowling camps and receiving an India A call-up.

India A Selection Opens a Bigger Door

Bhagat’s inclusion in the India A squads for the Australia A series represents the biggest opportunity of her young career.

She has been selected for three one-dayers as well as a four-day match against the touring Australia A team. Her bowling is expected to be an important part of her role, particularly because her recent development has attracted attention as a pace option.

The assignment will also provide a more realistic assessment of where she currently stands. Winning a speed competition demonstrates potential, but professional cricket demands much more than raw pace.

Against Australia A, Bhagat will have to demonstrate whether she can consistently control line and length, execute plans against different batters and maintain her effectiveness over longer spells.

What She Is Learning at the Centre of Excellence

Bhagat’s development has not stopped with the Speed Queen victory. In August, she attended a fast-bowlers’ camp at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru under India women’s bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi.

She attended another camp at the same facility earlier in September, giving her access to specialist coaching and a higher level of technical feedback than she had previously experienced.

The focus has not simply been on bowling faster.

Bhagat has been working on her fundamentals, particularly line and length. She has also been learning more about tactical bowling and field placements, an important step for a young bowler moving from domestic cricket toward higher-level competition.

That distinction matters. A fast delivery can trouble a batter, but sustained success requires a bowler to understand where and why she is bowling each ball.

Fitness Could Decide Her Next Leap

For a young fast bowler, physical development is just as important as technical improvement.

Bhagat has been training under Raj Yadav, a former strength and conditioning coach associated with Punjab and Chandigarh women’s teams. Her conditioning programme has included significant work on her core and unilateral movements.

The objective is not merely to increase the number on a speed gun. Stronger physical foundations can help a bowler repeat her action, maintain control and handle the demands of competitive cricket.

For Bhagat, this will be especially important because her India A opportunity comes while she is still a work in progress as a bowler.

Ellyse Perry and Dale Steyn Are Her Bowling Inspirations

Bhagat’s cricketing influences reveal the type of player she wants to become.

She considers Australia’s Ellyse Perry and South African pace great Dale Steyn among her bowling idols. Her preferred delivery also reflects her interest in conventional fast-bowling skills.

Her stock ball is an outswinger to a right-handed batter, giving her a clear starting point when constructing an attack.

With the bat, Harmanpreet Kaur is the player she looks up to.

That combination is important because Bhagat still considers herself an allrounder. Her recent batting performances suggest that the bowling breakthrough has not come at the expense of her primary strength.

Her Batting Numbers Show Another Side of the Story

The recent Queens Cup, Punjab’s state-level T20 competition, offered strong evidence of Bhagat’s batting potential.

She scored 137 runs in five innings, finishing fourth on the tournament’s run charts. More importantly, her strike rate of 153.93 was the best in the competition.

She also struck six sixes, a tally that was joint-second highest in the tournament.

Her bowling figures were considerably less impressive by comparison. She took two wickets from 17 overs while conceding runs at an economy rate of 7.35.

Those numbers underline why the India A opportunity is so useful. Bhagat does not need to arrive as a finished product. She needs competitive exposure that can show coaches what she can already do and which parts of her game require more work.

Why Six-Hitting Has Become Part of Her Development

Coach Narinder Rathore has also placed considerable emphasis on Bhagat’s power-hitting.

According to Rathore, he has regularly challenged her to hit large numbers of sixes during training because modern women’s cricket increasingly rewards batters who can generate boundary power.

That work appears to have translated into match performances. Her six-hitting during the Queens Cup was one of the clearest indicators of her batting growth.

The result is an interesting player profile: Bhagat has the potential to contribute as a middle-order batter while developing into a genuine pace-bowling option.

Is 105kph Fast Enough for International Cricket?

The 105kph figure from Speed Queen naturally invites comparisons with elite international fast bowlers, many of whom operate at significantly higher speeds.

However, speed-gun numbers need context. Rathore believes the handheld measurement used during the competition may have understated Bhagat’s actual release speed and expects her pace to increase as she becomes stronger.

More importantly, pace alone should not determine her prospects.

A bowler operating around 105-110kph with accuracy, movement and intelligent field settings can be more difficult to handle than a quicker bowler who lacks control. For Bhagat, the immediate goal should therefore be to combine speed with repeatable execution.

Australia A Series Will Be the Real Test

The next stage of Bhagat’s journey is not about winning another speed contest. It is about translating potential into performances.

Australia A will provide a significantly stronger challenge than the domestic games she has played so far. The quality of batting, intensity of the contests and tactical demands should give selectors a better understanding of her readiness.

For Bhagat, there are several key questions. Can she maintain her pace across multiple overs? Can she consistently find the right length? Can she create movement with the new ball? Can she adapt when batters attack her? And can she contribute enough with the bat to strengthen her case as an allrounder?

There is no requirement for her to answer every question immediately. At 19, her biggest advantage is time.

From Street Cricket to India’s Pathway

Bhagat’s story also highlights how alternative talent-identification programmes can change the career trajectory of young cricketers.

Before Speed Queen, her domestic opportunities were relatively limited. A handful of List A and T20 appearances had not yet provided enough exposure for her to become a widely recognised prospect.

The pace competition gave her a platform to demonstrate one particular skill in a measurable environment. That performance led to specialist camps, access to national-level coaching and eventually an India A selection.

It is an important pathway for players who may not initially attract attention through conventional statistics alone.

Bhagat’s journey also demonstrates why multi-dimensional players can be valuable. Her batting gives her another route into the team, while her developing pace bowling provides the quality that first brought her into the national conversation.

What Could Be Next for Akshita Bhagat?

The immediate objective is straightforward: make the most of the India A opportunity.

A strong Australia A series could increase her chances of receiving more domestic opportunities and further national camps. It could also help coaches decide whether her long-term role should be that of a batting allrounder who bowls useful pace or a genuine pace-bowling allrounder.

But expectations must remain realistic. One Speed Queen performance or one India A selection does not guarantee a place in India’s senior team.

Her development will likely depend on consistency, fitness, bowling control, batting progression and regular competitive cricket.

That makes the next few months particularly important. Bhagat has already gone from street cricket to Punjab cricket, from a talent hunt to BCCI camps, and now from domestic cricket to the India A pathway.

Final Verdict

Akshita Bhagat’s rise is one of the more intriguing young-player stories in Indian women’s cricket. Her 105kph Speed Queen performance gave her the breakthrough, but her journey is about much more than a speed-gun reading.

At 19, she is still developing both sides of her game. Her recent batting numbers show genuine power and attacking ability, while specialist coaching is helping her build the technical and tactical foundations required to become a reliable fast bowler.

The Australia A series will be an important measuring point. It may not provide all the answers, but it will offer Bhagat an opportunity to show that her journey from street cricket to India A is only the beginning.