May 29, 2025. With exactly four months and one day left for the start of the ICC Women’s World Cup in India, England’s stalwart Heather Knight received the bad news. An MRI scan revealed that she had suffered a significant tendon injury to her right hamstring. When it was suggested to her that surgery would put her out of action for four to six months, she decided against it. She had been here before, a full rupture in her left hamstring in 2013, and then too, she decided against going under the knife. She desperately wanted to be at the World Cup.
On Sunday, 143 days after the injury that left her gutted, Knight lifted her arms up with a big smile. In front of packed stands in Indore, she scored her third ODI century and the first since September 2021. At 34, she reached a new career high, registering her best score in the format with her 91-ball 109.
Notably, when she started stepping up her comeback, Knight struggled with one particular issue. “I started batting again at the end of August,” she wrote for The Telegraph, detailing her road to recovery. “I’ve done a lot of batting in my life, so that was the easy thing to pick up, but I wasn’t able to sweep for a couple of weeks just to let that tendon heal a little bit more.”
Fittingly, it was the sweep – and the reverse sweep – that was central to her innings at the Holkar Stadium as she peppered the square region on either side of the wicket to great effect.
The journey back to the England side was not easy. “Three times a week I sat in a spaceship-like pressurised oxygen [hyperbaric] chamber at a place in Bristol. A lot of people do it when they’ve had strokes, long Covid or MS, so I looked a little bit out of place,” Knight wrote for The Telegraph. “It’s quite claustrophobic to be honest, and it took a bit of getting used to. When they shut the submarine-like door that turns with a wheel, it felt a bit like ‘I’m a bit trapped here’, but I was obviously willing to do it if it was going to help me recover quicker.”
Against Bangladesh, with England in deep trouble in the run chase at 78/5, she overcame a tricky start to guide her team to a win. She had plenty of luck going her way that night, with a controversial catch ruled not out when she was in her 20s. But she rode those moments of fortune and ground it out. She’d later say: “I started to find my feet and my rhythm in that middle period, which was really nice. Obviously, the hardest thing sometimes coming back from injury is that sort of rhythm of batting in the middle can take a little bit of time to get back. So delighted that I was able to spend a little bit of time out there, get through that pressure.”
Against India, Knight looked in good touch from the word go. She wasn’t going at it too hard initially, finding the occasional boundary and rotating strike decently, but the touch seemed to be back. At the 30-over mark, she was 33 off 46 balls but stepped on the gas after that. In the 32nd over, she showcased her class against spinners. First came the sweep, taking on a full and straight delivery, smashed through square-leg for four. Next ball, she sat back in the crease, expecting Sree Charani to shorten her length and played the cut to perfection. “That’s why she is so good at playing the spinners. Waiting for the ball to come onto her, not hurrying into the shot. Previous shot came off the front foot, so she knows now that the young spinner will pull her length back,” Mithali Raj said on commentary.
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That footwork would be the hallmark of the rest of her knock. She started the 36th over off Rana with a lofted sweep over short fine-leg for four, and finished with a reverse sweep for another. She’d repeat that to Deepti Sharma as well in the subsequent overs. And against Kranti Gaud, she stepped down the track to effortlessly loft a six over midwicket for the short of the innings. Only when she got close to the century, she appeared shaky, getting to the landmark with a couple of reprieves, but otherwise – until she was run out by a bullet throw from Amanjot Kaur in the deep – she looked imperious.
Knight, who lost the captaincy earlier this year after the Ashes debacle in Australia, was always going to be key to England’s chances at the World Cup just for her batting. Her ability against spin and experience of playing in India over many years were crucial. “I’ve got the World Cup in my sights,” she wrote on Instagram in May. “Pretty gutted, it’s not the best timing, but I’ll be doing everything I can to get back asap. I’ve been here before and I’ll face this head-on like all the challenges I’ve had in my career.” And at the backend of her career, she’s still showing the fight, soldiering on like a Knight in shining armor.
