Seam Bowling All-Rounder Watch: Bidisha Dey & Karnika Karthick
By Virendra Karunakar
In part two of our series leading up to the WPL 2027 auction, we look at two seam bowling all-rounders who did well in their state leagues and might be on the radar of teams looking to add some Indian all-rounder depth to their squads.
Both players picked up 7 wickets each, 5 of which were in the Power Play, in their respective leagues and scored a few runs along the way at differing positions.
BIDISHA DEY
AGE: 20 | LEAGUE: BENGAL PRO T20 LEAGUE 2026
7 wickets in 8 innings at 5.4 RPO | 118 runs in 6 innings at a SR of 120
Bidisha has been steadily making progress through the ranks over the last couple of years. After making a mark initially in the under-19 T20 tournaments in 2024, she then did well at the under-23 level in 2025.
She has also had two good seasons of the Bengal Pro T20 League with 10 wickets last year and 7 wickets this time around, both at an economy of under 6.0 RPO.
BIDISHA DEY - Bowling Performance by Competition
| Competition | Inns | Overs | Wkts | Avg | Econ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bengal Women T20 Series 2026 | 8 | 29.1 | 7 | 22.4 | 5.4 |
| Women’s Under 23 T20 Trophy Elite 2025 | 5 | 12 | 4 | 18.8 | 6.3 |
| Bengal Women T20 Series 2025 | 5 | 16.4 | 10 | 8.7 | 5.2 |
| Women’s Under 19 T20 Challenger Trophy 2024 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 25.0 | 5.6 |
| Women’s Under 19 T20 Trophy 2024 | 6 | 18 | 10 | 5.9 | 3.3 |
| Bengal Women’s T20 Challenge 2021/22 | 11 | 30 | 4 | 39.8 | 5.3 |
Among bowlers to have picked up at least 6 wickets, Bidisha had the joint-second-best economy (5.3) with a high dot ball percentage.
BEST ECONOMY IN WOMEN'S STATE T20 LEAGUES IN 2026 (6+ wickets & 8+ overs)
| Rank | Player | League | Inns | Overs | Wkts | Econ | Dot % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Muskan Biswas (RAP) | Madhya Pradesh Women T20 | 5 | 17 | 6 | 5.2 | 50.0 |
| 2 | Jahanvi Paswan (RAP) | Bengal Women T20 | 9 | 32.5 | 11 | 5.3 | 57.9 |
| 2 | Bidisha Dey (RAP) | Bengal Women T20 | 8 | 29.1 | 7 | 5.3 | 60.0 |
| 4 | Hitanshi (RAP) | Senior Women’s Inter State T20 Trophy | 6 | 21 | 6 | 5.6 | 54.8 |
| 5 | Disha Chandak (LAP) | Bengal Women T20 | 9 | 30.1 | 15 | 6.0 | 56.4 |
Largely operating in the Power Play, where she’s picked up the bulk of her wickets, she also does her fair share at the death where she uses her wide lines and change of pace.
6 of her 7 wickets in this season’s Bengal Pro T20 League were of right-handers and 9 of her 10 last season too. Of course, one must add the caveat that at the state level there are disproportionately higher number of RHBs to LHBs.
A good in-swing bowler, Bidisha largely bowls outside off. However, looking at her pitch maps from last season’s Bengal Pro T20 to this season, you can see she’s done a better job of grouping on good length and full around 4th stump.
With the bat, she batted at number 3 for the most part and had some good knocks. While lacking power, evidenced by the fact that she hit no sixes throughout the 2026 edition of her state league, she had a sweet stroke being particularly strong from covers to point.
She also has a good pull shot on her which and uses her feet to attack spin and pace, especially a nice pickup shot over mid-on.
However, her overall strike rate versus spin was under 100 for the tournament, showing a clear way to shut out her scoring.
KARNIKA KARTHICK
AGE: 16 | LEAGUE: MAHARANI T20 LEAGUE (KARNATAKA)
7 wickets in 6 innings at 7.1 RPO | 84 runs in 5 innings at a SR of 156
Teenager Karnika Karthick on the other hand definitely does not lack power. Batting lower down as a finisher for her sides in the Maharani T20 League, Karnika has brought the maximums.
In both seasons of the Maharani that she has played, she has struck at a 150+ SR – 64 runs from 42 balls (SR 152) in 2025 and 84 runs from 54 balls (SR 156) in 2026. While 2025 saw her hit just one six, she dispatched six of them this season.
She actually hit twice as many sixes (6) as her fours (4s) in the 2026 Maharani Trophy edition. With the golf-like swing she gets good power through her shots, going over cow corner, but she can even step down and go down the wicket or go down on one leg and sweep the spinners for six.
And it’s not just the sixes; she can bring out the inventive shots behind the wicket for boundaries.
With the ball, she opened the bowling for her Bengaluru Blasters side with good wicket taking ability while bowling at a decent pace.
After picking just 1 wicket from her 17 overs in last season’s Maharani Trophy, Karnika picked up 7 wickets this time from her 20 overs at a passable economy of 7.1 as scores on average were higher in the 2026 edition of the Maharani Trophy T20.
Interestingly, 4 of her 7 wickets were the first wickets of the opposition innings, operating early and sometimes late in the Power Play.
She largely bowls outside off to both the right-handers and the left-handers on length and full in the Power Play, but as the pitch map grouping shows, she can pull back her length a bit to rush the batters.
Following her success in last year’s Maharani T20 Trophy, she turned out for her state side in the 2025-26 Women’s U-19 T20 Trophy and contributed with bat and ball in Karnataka’s run to the title. She followed it up with further impressive showings in the Women’s U-19 ODI Trophy.
She is in action for Karnataka in this year’s Women’s U-19 T20 Trophy as well where they are into the semis, though she is yet to pick up a wicket in her two outings.
However, at just 16, with the potential she has in terms of that six-hitting ability and the fact she plays in the lower middle order with the added ability to bowl 2-3 overs might make her an attractive pick for quite a few teams.