Who is Women's World Cup Player of the Tournament Deepti Sharma
She is known as a reliable offspinner, able to hurl the ball at varying speeds and boggle the minds of batters.
As India took home the crown for this year's Women's Cricket World Cup, cricketer Deepti Sharma was titled Player of the Tournament for her 55-wicket haul that was crucial to the team's victory. But what else has gone into the making of this star?
Sharma was born on 24 August 1997 in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. At an early age of nine, she developed an interest in cricket, nagging her father every day to ask her brother to take her to the local cricket grounds to watch the net practices and other games. It was during one of these net practice matches that national women's team selector Hemlata Kala recognised her potential as she watched the young girl throw a ball directly at the stumps from a distance of 50 metres in the Ekalavya Sports Stadium. This incident kick-started her career as a professional cricketer.
In 2014, she made her international debut in Bengaluru against South Africa as part of the ICC Women's Championship. However, it was only in 2016 that she first caught attention for picking up an ODI five-wicket haul, becoming the youngest Indian - male or female - to do so.
She is known as a reliable offspinner, able to hurl the ball at varying speeds and boggle the minds of batters. But she has also found a place as a middle-order batter, even with her unique batting style and tempo. As an all-rounder, Deepti Sharma has consistently performed as both a bowler and batter across all cricket formats.
But her breakthrough came when Sharma scored 188 runs against Ireland in a 2017 ODI match, participating in a 320-run opening stand with Punam Raut and breaking a world record. In 2019, she joined the Kia Super League as part of Western Storm.
Sharma then went on to play for the UP Warriorz in the 2024 WPL - a role she was given Rs. 2.4 crores for - becoming the first bowler to take a hat-trick in the tournament. She was even awarded the Most Valuable Player for the season.
After her play in this year's World Cup, she made history as the first cricketer, male or female, to score over 200 runs and take over 20 wickets, leaving the competition with 215 runs and 22 wickets. Who knows how many points she'll rack up in her next tournament?
This article is written by K. Tejasree, an intern
