Navi Mumbai, Dec 14 (IANS): It was only on Thursday morning that the 24-year-old Karnataka left-handed batter Shubha Satheesh was informed that she will be making her debut against England Women in the one-off four-day Test at the DY Patil Stadium here.

And less than an hour into the match, she was in the middle, sent in as a surprise the No.3 batter after Smriti Mandhana got out early. Shubha went on to make the most of the opportunity to top-score for India with 69 off 76 balls, adding 115 runs for the third wicket partnership with fellow debutante Jemimah Rodrigues (68) which rescued the team from a difficult position at 47/2.

The partnership between Shubha and Jemimah set the foundation on which Yastika Bhatia (66), Harmanpreet Kaur (49), Deepti Sharma (60 not out) and Sneh Rana (30) capitalised to help India reach a strong position at 410/7 at stumps on Day 1.

Shubha, who impressed everyone with her temperament and aggressive style of batting, said she was told by captain Harmanpreet and head coach Amol Muzumdar to just play her natural game and not change much.

"I got to know that I was in the playing XI only this morning. The captain and coach told me to play my natural game and that is what I did today. I am very happy to be able to contribute to the team score," said Shubha in the post-day press conference, adding that the front-foot cover drive that she executed on a few occasions on Thursday is one of her favourite shots.

The 24-year-old from Mysore said when she started playing cricket, she never thought she would one day be playing for India. "I just wanted to play sports, never thought that one day I would be representing the country. So, it is a dream come true for me," said Shubha in another short and crisp response, just like some of the shots she played against the England pacers on Thursday morning.

The left-handed batter, who seemed to have been sent at No.3 to maintain the left-right combination after Mandhana got out, has dabbled in many sports including hockey before opting for cricket.

Interestingly, Shubha shared a crucial partnership with Jemimah, who too had played hockey at the school level before shifting to cricket.

Asked about her partnership with the Mumbai batter who was also making her debut on Thursday, Shubha said, "We have played a lot of cricket together at age-group level. We have batted together in U19 days, so it did not feel very different. We just had another good partnership." Incidentally, Jemimah had dismissed Shubha at 99 in the four-day practice game the Indian team members played during their short camp at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru before this series.

Shubha, who has been picked up by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for the Women's Premier League 2024, said she was happy to score some runs for the team but a bit sad at missing out on a century.