On June 14 (Sunday), Deepti Sharma showed why she is considered one of the best all-rounders in the world. With the bat, she may have managed just 12* off nine, but she played her part in the 45-run stand with Richa Ghosh that saw India post 170/6 against Pakistan in their Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 opener. Later on, she was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 5/10, and also became the highest wicket-taker in Women’s T20Is.
Moreover, she bowled extremely well with fellow spinner Shree Charani, who picked up three wickets as well. Betwen them, they finished with 8/31 in eight overs, which are outstanding numbers.
As a result, Deepti believes bowling partnerships are as vital as batting partnerships.
Deepti praises Charani
“Charani bowled very well too; every over, every ball was very focused, and when you have a dot ball from one side and then take a wicket, it makes the job from the other end a bit easier, so that’s it – the focus was that. When you bowl in a partnership, just as a partnership helps you in batting, the same applies to bowling. So I think all credit goes to the bowlers. At the end, we won, and everyone performed well,” Deepti said at the post-match press conference.
However, she also credited Smriti Mandhana (68) and Harmanpreet Kaur (36), as their 91-run stand for the third wicket allowed India to get a match-winning total, after losing two early wickets.
“I think unbelievable batting by Smriti and special mention about that partnership, Smriti and Hari, they batted really well. From there, we got the momentum because initially we lost early wickets, but we always thought that we have a good batting line-up, so we contribute and how they batted is commendable,” Deepti said.
We focus on ourselves, not opponents
The 28-year-old all-rounder does not want to read much into the Indo-Pak rivalry as she says that her side does not think too much about their opponents and rather focus on themselves.
“I don’t think we felt anything different in this game. We always play every game in a different way, because the first game is always special; you get momentum from there. So I can only say that it’s a good win and a good start for the team and we don’t think about the opponent, we just play our best cricket,” she said.
Thanks to Deepti’s efforts, India went on to win the game by 64 runs after restricting Pakistan to just 106.
With a win under their belt, India will hope to make it two in two when they take on the Netherlands at Headingley on June 17 (Wednesday). Pakistan, on the other hand, take on South Africa at Edgbaston on the same day.
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