At 19, Deepti Bhagwan Sharma is the youngest player in the Indian women's team that is set to play in the ICC Women's World Cup in England on Saturday. Skipper Mithali Raj fondly describes her as the baby of the team. Indeed she is one— Deepti made her One Day International debut at the age of 17!
Deepti is being looked upon as one of the future stars of Indian women's cricket team. As is well recorded by now, her maiden ODI century in May this year was also part of cricket history. She and Poonam Raut were involved in a record opening partnership of 320 runs against South Africa in the quadrangular series which was also the qualifier for the World Cup. It's the first ever 300 plus partnership in women's ODI cricket history. Deepti scored 188 in 160 balls—the second highest score in ODI cricket after Belinda Clark's 229.
Mithali isn't surprised by Deepti's impact in what was her 18th ODI. Speaking to bcci.tv before leaving for England, Mithali said, “ When I saw Deepti for the first time, she seemed like a young boy on the crease. I realised then itself she will make lot of impact on the international level...It was a matter of few years. Today, I am so proud of how she has performed. There is a huge leap in her as a player. Hopefully, in the coming years, she will be one dominant player for India and take the responsibility to take the team further.”
Deepti was spotted by a coach at the age of nine in Agra where she used to accompany her elder brother Sumit for his training sessions at the Eklavya Sports Stadium. Encouraged by her brother, she took to cricket like a duck takes to water, coming through the ranks at domestic cricket as a talented left hand batter cum off spinner. She has been mentored by Hemlata Kala, former India cricketer and selector. Her fielding skills are exemplary, not surprising because her favourite cricketer is Suresh Raina, also from her state. Senior players vouch for her ability to grasp quickly and adapt without much ado.
The young girl is not overawed by the sense of occasion. She has shown great temperament while playing alongside seniors like Poonam and Jhulan Goswami. But she's a girl of few words. Asked what she felt about her first world cup, Deepti's response to bcci.tv was a simple, “I am confident, aiming to give consistent performance.” She revealed that while she did feel nervous ahead of her India debut way back in 2014, as she played more matches, her confidence levels improved too.
She said, “The 188 I scored against SA helped me a lot.”
Her skipper raves about the visible improvements in Deepti as she gained more experience. The teenager said, “I have focused on practising a lot harder, worked on improving my strokeplay.”
Speaking about her role as one of the main spinners, which only makes her workload harder, Deepti said, “I just think that I need to bowl maximum dot balls and look to contain opposition batters.”
The captain meanwhile has high hopes of her openers—Poonam, Deepti and Smriti Mandhana. For years, it's the Indian middle order, marshalled by the skipper herself, that has borne the responsibility scoring bulk of runs for India, but the top order's prolific run scoring abilities excites her especially keeping in mind the World Cup. “In the past, mostly middle order have won us matches. But things have changed with the starts these girls give us.”
