Lisa Sthalekar

Lisa Carprini Sthalekar (born 13 August 1979) is an Indian-born-Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer and captain of the Australia women's national cricket team.

In domestic cricket, she represented New South Wales.

She was a right-handed all rounder who bowled off spin, and was rated as the leading all rounder in the world when rankings were introduced.

She was the first woman to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in ODIs.

Sthalekar made her debut in the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL) late in 1997–98 as a specialist bowler, but had little success, totalling 1/120 in her maiden campaign.

She improved her performance over the next two seasons, taking 8 and 15 wickets respectively.

In three years, she scored only 169 runs with a best score of 33.

In 2000–01 Sthalekar took 11 wickets and scored 112 runs in the WNCL and was called into the Australian team for the first time.

Playing as a bowler, she made her One Day International (ODI) debut against England and ended the tour of the British Isles with five wickets from as many matches.

In 2001–02, Sthalekar developed into a frontline batter.

She made her first half-century, compiling four in all for the season.

She totalled 347 runs, more than her four previous seasons combined, and took 11 wickets as New South Wales won their sixth consecutive WNCL with a clean sweep.

Sthalekar struggled with the ball in the next two international seasons, taking only eight wickets in 12 matches, but she did break through with the bat at international level, making three half-centuries in six matches.

In early 2003, she made her Test debut against England, and made 120 not out, her maiden century, in her second match, although she took only three wickets in the two Tests.

In 2003–04 and the following season, Sthalekar took 14 wickets apiece and reached 250 runs in each season.

In internationals, she returned to form with the ball and averaged more than a wicket per ODI.

Sthalekar played in each match of Australia's unbeaten 2005 World Cup triumph in South Africa, taking seven wickets in all, and scoring 55 against India in the final.

After the World Cup, Australia toured the British Isles and Sthalekar made her maiden ODI century against Ireland.

She took seven wickets in the two-Test series against England, and upon returning to Australia, made 72 and took 5/30 in an innings win over India.

Sthalekar led New South Wales to five consecutive WNCL titles starting in 2005–06.

During this period, she averaged over 40 with the bat and just over 20 with the ball, scoring more than 1400 runs and taking 60 wickets.

Sthalekar had a strong 2006–07 international season with the bat, scoring 604 runs at 67.11, passing 40 in 9 of her 12 innings, but struggled with the ball, taking 10 wickets at 41.00.

In 2007–08, she missed out on a second Test century, falling for 98 in a one-off match against England.

She ended the season with consecutive ODI fifties against New Zealand and won the Belinda Clark Award for both 2007 and 2008.

She started the following summer with unbeaten scores of 73 and 104 against India, before taking 4/20 in the next match to help set up a clean sweep of the ODI series.

She reached her maiden WNCL century in 2009–10 having ended unbeaten in the nineties on two occasions in the five-year period.

During the 2009 World Cup held in New South Wales and Canberra, Sthalekar was Australia's leading wicket-taker with 13 wickets at 15.69 but struggled with the bat, making 70 runs at 14.00 as Australia lost the third-place playoff to India.

In early 2010, Sthalekar took 5/35, he best ODI bowling figures, in her 100th match.

Australia defeated New Zealand in all eight ODIs and Sthalekar was prominent with the ball, taking 12 wickets from seven matches.

She announced her retirement from international cricket a day after the Australian team won the 2013 Women's Cricket World Cup.

In August 2020, she was inducted to the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Originally named Laila at birth, Sthalekar was born in the city of Pune in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.

Her biological parents, who were unable to support her, placed her at Shreevatsa, an orphanage attached to Pune's Sassoon Hospital.

Haren and Sue Sthalekar, Lisa's adoptive parents, were a couple who lived in Michigan, United States.

Haren was born in Bombay and Sue to English parents.

The Sthalekars had a daughter and were in India visiting Shreevatsa, hoping to adopt a boy to complete the family.

Unsuccessful in their search and about to leave Shreevatsa, it was suggested that they meet Laila.

Sue fell in love with her big brown eyes and within a short period of time they decided to adopt her.

They thus completed the necessary legal formalities and renamed Laila as Lisa.

Three weeks after her birth, Sthalekar's family brought her back to the United States.