India’s veteran spin-bowling all-rounder Deepti Sharma starred in her team's opening match of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 against Pakistan, taking a sensational 5-wicket haul for to help secure a 64-run victory at Edgbaston on Sunday (June 14).
Opting to bat first, India posted 170/6 in 20 overs thanks to Smriti Mandhana’s brilliant half-century (68 off 44) and Richa Ghosh’s terrific cameo (34 off 17).
Despite a solid foundation by Muneeba Ali (41 off 35), Pakistan’s run chase unraveled completely when Deepti affected a game-changing run out to dismiss the set opener.
The middle order crumbled against Deepti (5-10 in 4 overs) and left-arm spinner Sree Charani (3-21 in 4 overs), with Pakistan losing their last seven wickets for just 31 runs to be bowled out for 106 in 17 overs.
After bagging the Player-of-the-Match award, Deepti Sharma expressed deep gratitude to the team and credited her success to the divine blessings of Hanuman Ji.
“I am very grateful. I like these kind of wickets, all credit goes to the team and I am very grateful, Hanuman Ji is great. I like ICC tournaments I think, from there I started, so I like it,” she said at the post-match presentation.
Reflecting on her bowling strategy, Deepti stated that she varied her pace on every ball and bowled slightly slower in the air while maintaining a focus on hitting the right areas as the surface was offering turn.
“I think because it's turning, so I varied my pace in every ball and every over. That helped me a lot. Yeah, because it's turning, so I just have belief that I have to bowl a little bit slower in the air and just believing in myself and bowling in the right areas. That's what I was doing, yeah,” she explained.
A massive crowd of 18,814 turned up to witness the marquee clash in Birmingham, the highest in a Women's T20 World Cup group stage game ever.
Deepti was elated at the support Team India received from the fans. “It's amazing crowd here and a lot of people are coming and supporting the Indian team today. And that's what we want in every game, let's keep coming and keep supporting.”
She highlighted the crucial 91-run partnership between Mandhana and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur for building the momentum for the Indian team.
“I wanted to mention about Smriti and Harry Di's partnership. From there, we threw the momentum.”
Deepti Sharma’s 5 for 10 is the best bowling figures by an Indian bowler in T20Is. She broke legendary pacer Jhulan Goswami's record. Jhulan had picked up five wickets for 11 runs against Australia in 2012.
Having faced a few wicketless games in the build-up to the tournament, Deepti said, “Actually, I was not worried about when I didn't get wickets, but I always believe in myself that whenever the right time will come, I'll step up for the team and that's how I play and bowl.”
