Lisa Sthalekar

Lisa Sthalekar was an Australian all-rounder and off-spinner who became the first player, male or female, to complete the ODI double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets.

Lisa Carprini Sthalekar was born on 13 August 1979 in Pune, India, and was abandoned at birth at an orphanage attached to Sassoon Hospital, where she was given the name Laila before being adopted by an Indian-American man, Haren Sthalekar, and his American wife, Sue, who had originally hoped to adopt a boy. The family settled in Sydney, Australia, where Lisa's father introduced her to cricket in the family's backyard, and she made her debut for New South Wales in 1997 before earning her first ODI cap for Australia in 2001. Sthalekar developed into one of the finest all-rounders in the history of women's cricket, becoming the first woman to achieve the ODI double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets, and was part of four World Cup-winning Australian squads across 50-over and Twenty20 formats. Sthalekar retired from international cricket in 2013, immediately after Australia's World Cup triumph in India, and was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2020. She has since become a prominent cricket commentator and the first woman appointed to the board of the Australian Cricketers' Association, later returning to visit the orphanage in Pune that shaped the beginning of her extraordinary life story.

Sthalekar was a versatile all-rounder known for her intelligent batting and effective off-spin bowling. She was particularly skilled at building innings and played crucial roles in both the middle order with the bat and as a key bowling option with her accurate spin.

Sthalekar's post-playing career as a pioneering female commentator has helped advance gender equality in cricket broadcasting and analysis.

• ICC Cricket Hall of Fame
• Australian Cricket Hall of Fame