Deepti Sharma had gone five T20Is in a row without taking a wicket on India’s tours of Australia and South Africa. With the format’s World Cup around the corner, that wasn’t a good sign. But it is unlikely that the Indian team management would have been overly worried.

Deepti was bound to be among the wickets soon. It was only in December that she had gone past Australian quick Megan Schutt to become the world’s highest wicket-taker in T20Is. She had done that against Sri Lanka in Thiruvananthapuram, where India completed a 5-0 whitewash.

She, however, lost that spot. When the T20I World Cup got underway in England last week, an unfamiliar name headed the all-time wicket-takers’ list: Thipatcha Putthawong. The young left-arm spinner has not faced the challenge of bowling to the world’s best batters on too many occasions as Thailand is not a full member.

Deepti got back the all-time No. 1 slot during India’s opening match in the Women’s T20 World Cup at Edgbaston. She took five for 10 to help her team score a thumping 64-run victory. Those figures are the best by an Indian at the World Cup. That was also the third best spell in the tournament’s history — after West Indies’ Deandra Dottin (five for five against Bangladesh in 2018) and Sune Luus of South Africa (five for eight against Ireland in 2016).

Dottin and Luus are also playing at this World Cup, and Deepti is due to come up against the latter, as South Africa is in the same ‘Group of Death’. India needs Deepti continues to come up with more shows like that.

Straight second five-for

It was the off-spinning all-rounder’s second straight five-wicket haul in an ICC World Cup match. She had taken five for 39 in the ODI World Cup final against South Africa in Mumbai to play a big role on what was the greatest day for Indian women’s cricket. She had done her bit with the bat as well, making 58.

Against Pakistan here too she played a crucial knock. Her 12 not out was priceless actually, as it was her sixth-wicket partnership with Richa Ghosh that saved the Indian innings from a precarious position. She played the perfect foil to her younger partner, who once again played her role as finisher perfectly.

After the match, Deepti was all praise for Richa’s brilliant knock (34 off 17 balls). “Sometimes the start is good, sometimes the middle overs are very good, but it is equally important how you finish and Richa batted very well,” she said. “If you have a thirty, forty or fifty partnership in the last five to six overs it helps a lot; it sets you up to reach a good total. Richa was striking every ball well, no matter which bowler was coming up against her.”

Deepti said Smriti Mandhana’s half century at the top of the order was important as well. “I think it was unbelievable batting by Smriti and her partnership with Harmanpreet helped us get back the momentum, after losing early wickets,” she said. “We have always thought we have a good batting line-up and it is commendable that we could contribute.”

Self-belief

About her match-winning spell, she said her plan was simple. “I just have the self-belief that whenever such situations arise, I will have to step up,” said Deepti. “And since the wicket was slightly turning, I was landing the balls well. It was just about bowling back-to-back in the good areas.”

About her back-to-back five-wicket hauls in ICC World Cup matches, though in different formats, she said she thrived on pressure. “I like pressure and the ICC tournaments,” she said with a smile. “I feel I have started (at this World Cup) from where I had finished off (at the ODI World Cup). It feels good.”

Deepti’s first World Cup was in England — the ODI variety in 2017. After shocking Australia in the semifinals, thanks, of course, to that unreal innings from Harmanpreet Kaur, India faltered in the final against England at Lord’s.

It wasn’t a memorable final for the 19-year-old Deepti, as she was the ninth wicket to fall, in the penultimate over. The Indian innings folded up in that over, in fact, and fell just nine runs short.

“I think when you look at young Deepti and now senior Deepti, it feels very good,” she said. “Looking back at the earlier matches and the 2017 World Cup, if I look at that, I learned a lot from that World Cup. I learn from every match. I learn from the errors and see in which areas I can be better.”

She has good support, too. “I regularly talk to Aavishkar Salvi and that always helps me,” she said. “I watch my videos, so I think there is always something to learn from every game. It doesn’t matter whether you are winning or not. You are considered a good player only when you think about how to improve (even your good qualities), and every match is important to me. And I am just enjoying it.”

That is pretty obvious when she is out on the field. She makes her presence felt even when she is not batting or fielding. In addition to her five wickets against Pakistan, she had also effected a run-out with a direct hit.

Combative

And she is a very combative player, who just doesn’t shy away from going that extra mile within the rules. Remember how she reduced England Charlie Dean to tears at Lord’s in a tense finish in the third ODI at Lord’s in 2022, by ‘Mankading’.

India doesn’t play Pakistan as often as other teams like England or Australia. She said there was nothing special about it. “I don’t think we felt anything different in this game,” she said. “We always play every game in a different way. But the first game is always special; you get momentum from there. So I can only say that it was a good win (against Pakistan) and a good start for the team. We don’t think about the opponent, we just try to play our best cricket.”

Great support

She said the whole team was enjoying playing the World Cup in England, with so many Indian fans turning out to support the Women in Blue. “Actually I didn’t feel like that we are playing in the UK, to be very honest,” she said. “We have got so much support from the crowd. The fans are cheering for us. It feels like home conditions. It is a good thing. Fans will come and support, and we will do our best and play our best cricket.”

And Deepti will have a vital role to play in this Indian team that is trying to win its second ICC World Cup within a space of a few months. One of India’s trusted servants for many years, she is a woman for all seasons.

Her numbers tell us how significant her contribution has been ever since making her India debut in 2014. She has scored 2771 ODI runs at an average close to 36 and struck 18 fifties and a hundred in 124 matches.

And that hundred was special. She made 188 against Ireland in South Africa in 2017 and added 320 for the opening wicket with Punam Raut, a record that remains unbeaten. She also has 166 ODI wickets.

After Wednesday’s match against the Netherlands at Leeds, she has 1232 runs in 146 T20Is and that world record tally of 167 wickets. She has also notched up four fifties and a five-wicket haul in six Tests.

And she continues to show why she is regarded as one of the best all-rounders in the women’s game, and why her captain has so much faith in her. It may be no exaggeration to say that she is the go-to woman of this Indian team.