New Delhi: It is very rare to come across spinners implementing variations in women’s cricket, but all-rounder Deepti Sharma, fresh from her brilliant performances in the just-concluded ICC Women’s World Cup, is now focused on developing a ‘carrom’ ball, used by Ravichandran Ashwin.
The 19-year-old talked about her brief cricketing journey from the smaller grounds in Agra to playing a World Cup final in front of a jam-packed Lord’s to this agency, Thursday.
“I used to accompany my brother to his academy in Agra. One day I was sitting on the stairs watching his match and suddenly the ball came to me. I threw back the ball and it directly hit the stumps. There were a few girls also practicing at the ground and among them was (veteran India batswoman) Hemlata Kala, who enquired about me,” Deepti said during the felicitation programme organised by sports minister Vijay Goel here Thursday .
“She immediately asked my brother to bring me along to the ground every day, stating: ‘She has a lot of potential, you have no idea of her talent’. From there the journey started,” added the girl with the impish smile.
Deepti likes calling herself a batting all-rounder but of late has turned her focus to improving her off-spin, with the addition of the variations.
“I keep watching Ashwin’s videos and try to learn from his variations. I haven’t met him yet but am a fan of the variations he uses in Test cricket,” Deepti pointed out.
“I tried the carrom ball at the nets but haven’t used it in a match situation as yet. It is necessary to have variations in your bowling as most of the non-Asian batswomen find it tough to handle quality spin bowling,” added Deepti.
Deepti asserted that winning the World Cup opener against England gave the team a huge fillip. “The win against England in the World Cup opener was a confidence booster for us. From there on we started believing in our abilities and complimented each other’s efforts. We are a team who enjoy each other’s success,” pointed out Deepti.
She also stated that had India lost the final in a tame manner, then it would have been heart-breaking. “Somehow, things did not work out, but we fought to the end. That is what is important,” said Deepti.
“When I went to bat in the final, the team needed 28 runs and my focus was on staying till the end. I focused on taking singles and hitting the odd ball for a boundary. It was a achievable target but somehow things did not work in our favour. But even then we don’t have any regrets,” added the UP cricketer.
