Deepti Sharma (Cricketer) Height, Age, Boyfriend, Family, Biography & More

 Some Lesser Known Facts About Deepti Sharma

• Deepti Sharma is an Indian cricketer who plays for the Indian women’s cricket team as an all-rounder. She holds several records in cricket. On 13 February 2023, during the Women’s Premier League (WPL) auctions in Mumbai, Deepti was signed by UP Warriorz for Rs. 2.60 crores.

• Deepti grew up in a middle-class family in Agra, Uttar Pradesh.

• Her brother Sumit Sharma was also a cricketer in his younger days. Sumit played for Uttar Pradesh in the C K Naidu Trophy. Later, he gave up cricket as his parents could not afford to bear his cricketing expenses. Sumit worked at a private firm for a while and later, set up a cricket coaching camp in Uttar Pradesh.

• Deepti was 9 years old when her family came to know about her passion for cricket. She was so passionate about the game that she would often ask her father to tell her brother Sumit to take her along to the cricket ground, where he practiced the game. At the ground, Deepti loved watching her brother and his friends play cricket, and it became her routine to pick up the stray ball and throw it back to the players. One day, when Deepti was watching her brother and his friends play cricket at the Ekalavya sports stadium, she picked up a stray ball and tossed it back to the ground from 50 meters. The ball hit the stumps. The incident caught the attention of Hemlata Kala, a former Indian cricketer and the then chairperson of the BCCI’s women’s selection panel, who was present there to train the cricketers. Kala immediately enquired about Deepti and told Sumit that if trained properly, Deepti would go on to represent India someday.

• Soon, Sumit (Deepti’s first coach) began training her in cricket. After a few months of training, Deepti started giving auditions for state cricket teams but was overlooked by the selectors due to her age. This continued for a few years.

• Meanwhile, Kala made sure that Deepti received good training and collected appropriate experience. Kala also took Deepti to nets at the Railway Camps in Delhi and Allahabad.

• At one of the camps, Deepti came to the notice of Rita Dey, a former Indian cricketer and selector, who decided to mentor her.

• Soon, she started getting offers to play cricket at the domestic level. Deepti gave several consistent performances at the domestic level and was later called up for a camp at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

• She played her first One Day International match on 28 November 2014 against South Africa Women at Bengaluru during the ICC Women’s Championship.

• Two years later, Deepti recorded her best ODI bowling figures by making six dismissals in a match agaainst Sri Lanka in Ranchi.

• She made her T20 international debut on 31 January 2016 against the Australia Women’s cricket team in Sydney.

• In February 2017, during the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier final match, Deepti played a great inning against South Africa by scoring 71 runs off 89 balls. The match was won by India with just one wicket in their hand. For her outstanding performance, Deepti was declared the Player of the Match.

• In the same year, she represented India at the finals of the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup. The match was won by England by 9 runs. In the tournament, Deepti scored 216 runs in 8 matches at an average of 30.86. She also took 12 wickets in the tournament with her best bowling figures of 3 for 59 from 7.1 overs against Australia.

• Later, she was named in the Indian Women’s squad for the quadrangular series in South Africa that also featured Ireland Women, South Africa Women, and Zimbabwe Women. During one of the matches of the series against Ireland in Potchefstroom, Deepti scored 188 runs of 160 balls, making a world record-opening partnership of 320 runs with Poonam Raut. Team India scored 358 runs for 3 wickets in 50 overs. She was named the Player of the Tournament for her performance in the series.
  

  Deepti Sharma during a cricket match

• In 2018, Deepti claimed 6 wickets for 20 runs during the final match of India’s home series against Sri Lanka, helping India to win the series.

• She was also a part of the Indian women’s squad that participated in the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.

• Deepti Sharma has played several matches for India A Women.

• In the 2017-18 senior women’s domestic season, Deepti played for Bengal Women’s team. Scoring 312 runs in 6 matches at an average of 104 and strike rate of 65.13, Deepti was the highest scorer of the season. She hit five half-centuries during the tournament, her highest score being 77 runs. She made 9 dismissals in the tournament with her best bowling figures being 3 for 26 against Vidarbha in Kolkata.
  

  Deepti Sharma as a part of the Bengal Women’s team

• During the 2018-2019 senior women’s domestic season, Deepti played 6 matches in which she scored 313 runs (including 2 centuries and one half-century). She took 13 wickets in the tournament with her best bowling figures being 4 for 12 against Kerala in Bengaluru.

• In 2018, Sharma was included in the Indian Women’s squad for the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 tournament in the West Indies. The Indian team made it to the semi-finals of the tournament, where the team lost to England by 8 wickets. Deepti picked up 5 wickets in the tournament with her best being 2 for 15 in 3 overs against Ireland.

• In 2023, she was named in the Indian Women’s squad that took part in the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, held in South Africa.

• In May 2021, Deepti was included in Indian women’s Test squad for their one-off match against the England Women’s cricket team.

• She played her first international test match on 16 June 2021 against England at Bristol.

• During the 2018 and 2022 seasons of the Women’s T20 Challenge, Deepti played for IPL Trailblazers. IPL Trailblazers won the 2020 season of the tournament by defeating IPL Supernovas by 16 runs in the finals at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah. During their second match against IPL Supernovas in the 2020 season, Deepti scored 43* runs. However, their team lost by two runs.
  

  Deepti Sharma playing a cricket match for IPL Trailblazers

• In one of the seasons of the Women’s T20 Challenge, she has also played for IPL Velocity.

• In the 2019 Kia Super League, Deepti represented Western Storm. The tournament was won by her team.

• In 2021, Deepti was picked up by London Spirit as a wildcard player during the inaugural season of The Hundred.
  

  Deepti Sharma as a member of the London Spirit for 100 Ball Cricket

• In the 2021 season of the Women’s Big Bash League, Deepti played for the Sydney Thunder team.
  

  Deepti Sharma playing a cricket match for Sydney Thunder

• In 2022, Deepti represented India at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. The Indian Women’s team confirmed its berth in the semi-finals by defeating Barbados Women by 100 runs in their final group league match.
  

  Deepti Sharma and Renuka Singh after India secured a berth in the semi finals of 2022 Commonwealth Games

• During the auctions of the inaugural Women’s Premier League in 2023, Deepti Sharma was bought by UP Warriorz for Rs. 2.6 crores. Starting at a base price of Rs. 50 lakhs, Sharma was involved in a tight scuffle between Gujarat Giants, Delhi Capitals, and Mumbai Indians. Later, UP Warriorz made a surprise bid of Rs. 2.2 crores and eventually bagged her for Rs. 2.6 crores.

• In her spare time, Deepti loves listening to music.

• Although she was naturally a right-handed batsman, Deepti later learned to have a left-hand grip without receiving any formal training.

• FairPlay Sports, a sports consultancy and agency, manages Deepti’s sports projects.

• A fitness enthusiast, Deepti follows a strict workout regimen.
  

  Deepti Sharma during her workout session

• She is an avid animal lover and posts pictures with several animals on her social media accounts.
  

  Deepti Sharma with a Kangaroo

• Deepti has a deep faith in Lord Hanuman.

• Deepti is a Luddite. In an interview, she revealed that she used a smartphone for the first time when she was 18 years old as the cricket authorities asked her to be present in a common WhatsApp group of the Indian women’s squad.

• Deepti was a tomboy in childhood and people often confused her to be a boy. Reportedly, when Hemlata Kala first spotted her, she too mistook her as a boy.