Get an amazing feeling on listening to being leading wicket taker in T20Is, says Deepti

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 31 (IANS) India’s off-spin bowling all-rounder Deepti Sharma said listening that she’s now the leading wicket‑taker in women’s T20Is gives her ‘an amazing feeling’, and added that her focus remains on creating breakthroughs whenever she has the ball in hand.

During the fifth T20I against Sri Lanka at the Greenfield International Stadium, Deepti overtook Australia’s Megan Schutt to become the highest wicket‑taker in women’s T20Is, by claiming her 152nd scalp in the form of dismissing Nilakshika Silva lbw.

Deepti finished with figures of 1-28 as India defended 175 to clinch a 15‑run win and complete a 5‑0 series sweep. Earlier this year, Deepti won the Player of the Tournament award in India winning the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup.

“Listening to the leading wicket taker in T20Is, I get an amazing feeling. I feel very good, but whenever I play a match and whenever I have the ball in my hand, I think about how much impact I can make with the ball and how much opportunities I can create for picking wickets against whatever opponent is playing.

“I always take it as a challenge and whenever I get the ball, I always think about how much breakthroughs I can give for the team,” said Deepti in a video posted by the BCCI on their social media accounts on Wednesday.

Seam-bowling all-rounder Arundhati Reddy also chipped in with all-round contributions – making an unbeaten 27 while picking 1-16. “Whatever I do, I want to create an impact, whether I bowl, bat or field. Im always wanting the ball when I bowl. But I always wanted to bat - this was the first game that I got to bat.

“I was really happy and really excited for that opportunity because Ive been working really hard on my batting. Of course with fielding, Ive always been that player who given her 100 on the field. So that what I want to be, and that what I want to continue doing that.

“I think for me, my hard work is something, and my passion and the fact that I never give up. You can push me to the wall and Ill still keep coming back and that the kind of player that Ive always been and Ill continue to be that till the time I play,” she said.

Left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma explained her unique wicket-taking celebration with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur. “Before entering the field, we were all standing outside in the huddle. So I thought, let do something good when we take the wicket, let do something like a new celebration.

“So I said, Harry di, when I take the wicket, should I come to you like this? So she said, yes, let do it. I had planned for the third match, but I didnt get the wicket and that was left there. But I got the wicket in the fourth match and that’s when the celebration was completed,” she said.

--IANS

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