India · Bowling all-rounder

Shikha Pandey: Age, Stats, 75 ODI Wickets and WPL Career

Shikha Pandey is an Indian right-arm seam bowler and capable lower-order batter who played all three international formats, took 75 ODI wickets and was selected in the ICC Women's ODI Team of the Year for 2019. Born on 12 May 1989, she was 37 on 2 September 2026. Her career also connects engineering, service as an Indian Air Force officer, a historic Test win at Wormsley and four seasons of the Women's Premier League.

By StumpScope Cricket Desk · Edited by StumpScope Editorial Team

Right-handedRight-arm medium pace bowlerBorn 12 May 1989

Current squadUP WarriorzWomen's Premier League · Played for UP Warriorz in WPL 2026; next-season status not yet confirmed

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Full nameShikha Subas Pandey

Age37As of 2 September 2026

Date of birth12 May 1989Ramagundam, Andhra Pradesh, India (now Telangana)

Batting styleRight-handed

Bowling styleRight-arm medium pace

Career overview

Shikha Pandey cricket career

Born 12 May 1989 in Ramagundam; age 37 on 2 September 2026.

Right-arm medium-pace bowler and right-handed lower-order batter.

Played three Tests, 55 ODIs and 62 T20Is for India.

Took 75 ODI wickets, including career-best figures of 4 for 18.

Named in the ICC Women's ODI Team of the Year for 2019.

Joined UP Warriorz for INR 2.4 crore and took seven wickets in WPL 2026.

Career story

Shikha Pandey career and playing journey

Who is Shikha Pandey?

Shikha Pandey is a former India international whose main skill is right-arm seam bowling with the new ball. She also contributed useful lower-order runs, including two ODI fifties and an unbeaten 28 that helped India complete a historic Test victory in England.

Her biography is unusual even by elite-sport standards. Pandey earned an engineering degree, was commissioned as an Air Traffic Control Officer in the Indian Air Force and became the first IAF officer to represent India's women's cricket team. Her international career ran from 2014 to 2023, followed by productive franchise seasons in India, Australia, New Zealand and the Caribbean.

Shikha Pandey's age, full name and birthplace

Shikha Subas Pandey was born on 12 May 1989 in Ramagundam, then part of Andhra Pradesh and now in Telangana. She was 37 years old on 2 September 2026.

Pandey grew up in Goa and became closely identified with Goan cricket. Birthplace, upbringing and representative team are different facts: Ramagundam is the place recorded at birth, while Goa supplied the cricket system in which she developed. Keeping those details separate avoids incorrectly changing her birthplace to match the state she represented.

Engineering, the Air Force and cricket

Pandey completed an engineering degree before joining the Indian Air Force. The Air Force records that she was commissioned as an Air Traffic Control Officer on 30 June 2012 and later reached the rank of Squadron Leader.

This was not a decorative title added after her cricket success. She balanced service responsibilities with domestic and international sport, and the IAF identifies her as its first officer to play for the India women's team. Her technical education and military career are relevant biography, but they should not be used to invent claims that engineering directly produced a particular bowling method.

How did Shikha Pandey develop as a cricketer?

Pandey played with boys during her early training in Goa and progressed through the state's senior women's side. Her development was slower than that of a player entering a national academy in her teens, partly because higher education and service remained serious parallel commitments.

The eventual breakthrough demonstrates persistence more clearly than a generic 'born talented' story. She completed college in 2010, gave cricket a concentrated opportunity and continued through domestic competitions until national selection arrived in 2014. That pathway also explains why her international debut came at 24 rather than during her teenage years.

T20I debut against Bangladesh in 2014

Pandey made her T20 international debut against Bangladesh at Cox's Bazar on 9 March 2014. She bowled Shamima Sultana and completed a maiden over, making an immediate new-ball contribution in India's nine-wicket win.

The debut established the pattern that defined much of her career: use swing and accuracy early, then return when the batting side is trying to accelerate. It did not make her an automatic selection for the next decade. Pace-bowling combinations changed frequently, and Pandey's record contains recalls and omissions as well as major tournaments.

A historic Test win at Wormsley

Pandey made her Test debut against England at Wormsley in August 2014. India, fielding eight Test debutants, dismissed England for 92 and eventually chased 181 to win by six wickets.

Pandey finished the chase with an unbeaten 28 and shared an unbroken 68-run fifth-wicket partnership with captain Mithali Raj. The ICC described it as India's first Test in eight years and only the country's third Test-series victory at the time, all achieved overseas. Her winning boundary gave a young international career an unusually important early moment.

ODI debut and the 59 against South Africa

Pandey made her ODI debut against England at Scarborough on 21 August 2014. Later that year, she scored 59 and took three for 19 against South Africa, becoming the first India woman to combine a fifty and three wickets in the same ODI.

The performance shows why an all-rounder label can be defensible even though bowling remained her primary senior role. Her batting was not frequent enough to place her among India's specialist middle order, but it could change a match from the lower half. Two career ODI fifties and 512 runs provide a measurable record rather than relying on vague claims about being handy with the bat.

Shikha Pandey at the 2017 Women's World Cup

Pandey was part of the India team that reached the 2017 Women's World Cup final in England. In the semi-final against Australia, she struck with her second ball to dismiss Beth Mooney and finished with two for 17 as India defended a shortened-match total.

Harmanpreet Kaur's unbeaten 171 was the defining performance, but Pandey's early wicket helped prevent Australia from controlling the chase. India then lost a close final to England at Lord's. The runner-up finish is a team achievement; it should not be converted into a title or attributed to one player's tournament alone.

The 4 for 18 that sealed an England series

Pandey took a career-best four for 18 in the second ODI against England at Mumbai on 25 February 2019. Her controlled in-swing helped India dismiss England for 161 and take an unassailable 2–0 lead in the series.

The spell followed two for 21 in the opening match, so the impact came across consecutive games rather than one isolated burst. Four for 18 remains her best ODI innings return and is already included in her career tally of 75 wickets. The match figure, series result and lifetime total should be read at their correct scopes.

ICC Women's ODI Team of the Year 2019

The ICC selected Pandey in its Women's ODI Team of the Year for 2019. The voting academy considered performances during the calendar year, placing her in an attack that also included Jhulan Goswami, Megan Schutt and Poonam Yadav.

This is a formal annual recognition, not a fan poll or a current ranking. It captures her strongest sustained ODI year, including the England series, without implying she was the world's top-ranked bowler on every date. Awards and rankings answer different questions and should never be presented as interchangeable.

The 2020 T20 World Cup final

Pandey played for India throughout the 2020 Women's T20 World Cup in Australia and took seven wickets in the tournament. India reached the final unbeaten before Australia won decisively at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Reaching the final was a major team milestone, but the campaign ended as runner-up rather than champion. Pandey's new-ball role helped India through the group stage and semi-final qualification. The seven-wicket return belongs to that tournament and does not replace her complete T20I total of 43 wickets.

The 2021 Bristol Test rescue

In the drawn Test against England at Bristol in June 2021, Pandey contributed 18 in India's second innings while Sneh Rana led a remarkable lower-order recovery. India had been in serious danger after following on before the tail batted through the final day.

Pandey's innings was not the largest contribution—Rana made 80 not out and Taniya Bhatia 44 not out—but it formed one of the partnerships that consumed time and reduced England's chance of winning. Test batting at number eight or nine is often about survival and partnership value rather than a headline score.

The swinging ball that bowled Alyssa Healy

During India's 2021 tour of Australia, Pandey bowled Alyssa Healy with a delivery that began outside off stump and swung sharply back through the gate. The ball became one of the most shared examples of conventional swing in women's cricket.

The visual drama should not obscure the result: Australia still won the second T20I. A spectacular delivery can demonstrate skill without turning a defeat into a victory or earning an invented official award. It remains useful evidence of Pandey's ability to move a new ball late at international pace.

International omission and the 2023 return

Pandey fell out of India's plans after the 2021 Australia tour, then earned a recall for the 2023 Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa. She played her final T20I in the semi-final against Australia on 23 February 2023.

Her international record has not changed since that tournament. India has since developed other pace options, while Pandey has continued to play high-level franchise and domestic cricket. 'Former India international and active franchise bowler' is therefore more accurate than calling her a current India player or announcing an international retirement she has not formally declared.

Shikha Pandey's international statistics

Pandey's completed international record contains three Tests, 55 ODIs and 62 T20Is. She took four Test wickets, 75 ODI wickets and 43 T20I wickets, with best figures of two for 33, four for 18 and three for 14 respectively.

With the bat, she scored 55 Test runs, 512 ODI runs and 208 T20I runs. Her ODI record includes two fifties and a high score of 59. These formats overlap with broader first-class, List A and T20 totals, so adding the rows together would produce a misleading all-format figure.

Delhi Capitals and the first WPL final

Delhi Capitals selected Pandey for the inaugural WPL in 2023. She took ten wickets in nine matches and helped the team reach the final, where a late unbeaten 27 formed a 52-run last-wicket partnership with Radha Yadav.

The stand lifted Delhi from 79 for nine to 131 for nine, giving the bowlers a defendable total even though Mumbai Indians completed the chase. Pandey's first WPL season therefore displayed both parts of her all-round game: new-ball wickets across the tournament and lower-order resistance on the biggest night.

Three consistent seasons with Delhi Capitals

Pandey played every Delhi Capitals match across the 2023, 2024 and 2025 WPL seasons. She took ten wickets in 2023, nine in 2024 and 11 in 2025 as Delhi reached three consecutive finals.

Her economy rates stayed close to seven runs per over, a valuable return for a bowler used in the powerplay and at the death. Delhi did not win the title during those seasons, so the correct achievement is three final appearances and 30 wickets, not three championships. Her record also reflects durability: 27 matches across the league's first three editions.

Brisbane Heat and the WBBL|10 final

Brisbane Heat drafted Pandey for WBBL|10 in 2024. She took 12 wickets in 12 matches at an economy rate of 6.90 and was selected in Cricket Australia's official team of the tournament.

Heat finished runner-up after losing the final to Melbourne Renegades. Pandey's first WBBL season confirmed that her swing and control could transfer to Australian conditions even after she had left India's team. It also came after she travelled to Queensland and invested in grade-cricket preparation rather than waiting only for an international recall.

New Zealand and Caribbean franchise cricket

Pandey broadened her franchise career beyond India and Australia. She played for Canterbury in the 2024–25 Super Smash, taking nine wickets while also scoring 207 runs, and later joined the Women's Caribbean Premier League.

Those competitions are separate from her WPL and international records. The varied roles are important: in New Zealand she received more batting responsibility, while franchise sides often used her primarily with the new ball. A single career label cannot fully describe how team balance changed her workload across leagues.

The INR 2.4 crore move to UP Warriorz

UP Warriorz bought Pandey for INR 2.4 crore at the WPL 2026 auction after a bidding contest. The official playing-squad document lists the 240-lakh value, while the auction register confirms her identity, capped status, role and prior Delhi Capitals team.

The price made her one of the auction's major Indian buys and reflected demand for experienced domestic pace. It is a season-specific auction amount, not proof of current net worth or guaranteed take-home income. Tax, endorsements and other contracts remain separate and are not disclosed by the roster figure.

Shikha Pandey's WPL 2026 performance

Pandey took seven wickets in eight matches for UP Warriorz in WPL 2026. She bowled 30 overs, conceded 240 runs and recorded best figures of two for 30, giving her an economy rate of 8.00.

The season was less economical than her three years with Delhi, and UP Warriorz missed the playoffs. She still contributed in every match and scored a late 23 from 13 balls against Delhi Capitals in the final league game. The balanced assessment is neither a career decline claim nor an attempt to inflate seven wickets into a dominant campaign.

Shikha Pandey's complete WPL record

Through WPL 2026, Pandey had played 35 matches and taken 37 wickets at an average of 25.30 and economy rate of 7.20. Her best return was three for 23, and she had scored 120 runs with a highest score of 27 not out.

The totals cover Delhi Capitals and UP Warriorz across four seasons. They do not include WBBL, Super Smash or WCPL matches. Her WPL value rests on repeated new-ball and death-over assignments, plus occasional late runs, rather than five-wicket hauls or a large batting aggregate.

Shikha Pandey's records and achievements

Pandey's major achievements include 75 ODI wickets, four for 18 against England, selection in the 2019 ICC ODI Team of the Year, a 2017 World Cup final, a 2020 T20 World Cup final and a historic Test win at Wormsley.

Her franchise record adds 37 WPL wickets, three finals with Delhi Capitals and selection in the WBBL|10 team of the tournament. The Air Force also lists the Dilip Sardesai Award for Sporting Excellence among her honours. These are different categories—statistics, team finishes, selection recognition and service-linked awards—and should remain clearly labelled.

Shikha Pandey's salary and net worth

The confirmed public figure is UP Warriorz's INR 2.4 crore winning bid at the WPL 2026 auction. It represents one franchise contract under that competition's rules and does not state what Pandey received after tax or through any other cricket engagement.

No audited source establishes her current net worth. Air Force service, match fees, earlier league contracts, endorsements and personal assets cannot be reliably combined from public information. A precise wealth estimate based on assumptions would create false confidence, so this profile reports the auction amount and leaves private finances private.

Shikha Pandey records

Shikha Pandey career statistics and records

Batting, bowling and fielding figures are kept separate by competition and format.

WTest career through June 20213matches

Batting

Innings: 5
Runs: 55
High score: 28*
Average: 18.33
Strike rate: 26.70
Not outs: 2
100s / 50s: 0/0

Bowling & fielding

Innings: 5
Wickets: 4
Best bowling: 2/33
Average: 35.25
Economy: 3.40
Strike rate: 62.25
Balls: 249
Catches / stumpings: 1
5w / 10w: 0/0

WODI career through July 202155matches

Batting

Innings: 34
Runs: 512
High score: 59
Average: 20.48
Strike rate: 90.15
Not outs: 9
100s / 50s: 0/2

Bowling & fielding

Innings: 55
Wickets: 75
Best bowling: 4/18
Average: 21.92
Economy: 3.99
Strike rate: 32.96
Balls: 2,472
Catches / stumpings: 11
5w / 10w: 0/0

WT20I career through 23 February 202362matches

Batting

Innings: 28
Runs: 208
High score: 26
Average: 13.00
Strike rate: 79.09
Not outs: 12
100s / 50s: 0/0

Bowling & fielding

Innings: 56
Wickets: 43
Best bowling: 3/14
Average: 26.16
Economy: 6.49
Strike rate: 24.19
Balls: 1,040
Catches / stumpings: 18
5w / 10w: 0/0

WPL career through 1 February 202635matches

Batting

Innings: 15
Runs: 120
High score: 27*
Average: 24.00
Strike rate: 120.00
Not outs: 10
100s / 50s: 0/0

Bowling & fielding

Innings: 35
Wickets: 37
Best bowling: 3/23
Average: 25.30
Economy: 7.20
Strike rate: 21.08
Balls: 780
Catches / stumpings: 7
5w / 10w: 0/0

WBBL|1012matches

Batting

Runs: 25
Strike rate: 113.64
100s / 50s: 0/0

Bowling & fielding

Innings: 12
Wickets: 12
Best bowling: 2/14
Average: 24.17
Economy: 6.90
Strike rate: 21.00
Balls: 252
5w / 10w: 0/0

Only fields published by the named source are shown; unavailable values are not guessed.

Career chronology

Debut and last listed match

WT20I

Debut

India v Bangladesh, Cox's Bazar, 9 March 2014

Last listed match

India v Australia, Cape Town, 23 February 2023

WTest

Debut

India v England, Wormsley, 13 August 2014

Last listed match

India v England, Bristol, 16 June 2021

WODI

Debut

India v England, Scarborough, 21 August 2014

Last listed match

India v England, Worcester, 3 July 2021

Women's Premier League

Debut

Delhi Capitals, 2023

Last listed match

UP Warriorz, WPL 2026

Overseas leagues

Debut

Brisbane Heat, WBBL|10

Last listed match

New Zealand and Caribbean competitions through 2025

Career achievements

Career achievements and milestones

Took 75 ODI wickets, including career-best figures of 4 for 18.
Named in the ICC Women's ODI Team of the Year for 2019.
Hit the winning runs in India's 2014 Test victory at Wormsley.
Reached the 2017 ODI World Cup and 2020 T20 World Cup finals with India.
Took 37 wickets across the first four WPL seasons.
Selected in Cricket Australia's WBBL|10 team of the tournament.
Joined UP Warriorz for INR 2.4 crore at the WPL 2026 auction.
First Indian Air Force officer to play for India's women's cricket team.

Reader questions

Shikha Pandey FAQ

How old is Shikha Pandey?

Shikha Pandey was born on 12 May 1989 and was 37 years old on 2 September 2026.

What is Shikha Pandey's bowling style?

She bowls right-arm medium pace and is best known for swinging the new ball.

How many ODI wickets did Shikha Pandey take?

She took 75 wickets in 55 women's ODIs at an average of 21.92.

What are Shikha Pandey's best ODI figures?

Her best ODI bowling figures are four for 18 against England in February 2019.

Did Shikha Pandey serve in the Indian Air Force?

Yes. She was commissioned as an Air Traffic Control Officer in 2012 and reached the rank of Squadron Leader.

Did Shikha Pandey win a World Cup?

No. She was part of India's runner-up teams at the 2017 ODI World Cup and 2020 T20 World Cup.

Which WPL team did Shikha Pandey play for in 2026?

She played for UP Warriorz after the franchise bought her for INR 2.4 crore.

How many WPL wickets has Shikha Pandey taken?

She had 37 wickets from 35 WPL matches through the 2026 season.

When did Shikha Pandey last play for India?

Her last India appearance was the T20 World Cup semi-final against Australia on 23 February 2023.

What is Shikha Pandey's net worth?

No audited public source reviewed for this article establishes a dependable current net-worth figure.

Conclusion

Shikha Pandey built a distinctive career across cricket, engineering and Indian Air Force service. On the field, her record includes 75 ODI wickets, a winning Test partnership at Wormsley, two global finals with India and formal recognition in the ICC Women's ODI Team of the Year for 2019.

Her international career ended, to date, in 2023, but elite cricket continued through Delhi Capitals, Brisbane Heat, Canterbury, Caribbean competition and UP Warriorz. Thirty-seven WPL wickets and a major 2026 auction bid show the value teams still place on her new-ball experience, control and lower-order resilience.