Deepti Sharma. South Africa. World Cup.
Till Sunday night, even Deepti would have thought of that World Cup night in Christchurch, back in 2022, if those words had been put to her together. India were on the verge of progressing to the semi-finals then, they had to go past South Africa in a must-win game, and Deepti had the task of defending six runs in the last over with the set Mignon du Preez in front of her.
When South Africa needed three from two, Deepti had du Preez caught at long-on to spark wild celebrations before realising that the umpires were checking for a no-ball and Deepti had no part of her heel inside the crease. Two balls later, du Preez hit the winning runs. The abiding memory from that moment is of Jhulan Goswami, out of that match with a niggle, her mouth covered with her hands as she saw her last World Cup dream shattered.
It's hard to know how Deepti would have slept that night. Or how she dealt with that in the days and years to come. In fact, Deepti might have gone into the 2022 World Cup with baggage already, having not been able to see India through in the 2017 final when she was the second-last wicket to fall and India fell short by just nine runs against England.
The nature of sport is such that sportspersons often feel redeemed by shining in similar situations, often against the same team, and even more when there's a lot at stake.
Harmanpreet Kaur and India have often fallen back on Deepti as the partnership-breaker in recent times, and Sunday night was no different. But it was the World Cup final, so there was the added pressure. Deepti was first bowler Harmanpreet turned to after the opening quicks didn't get a wicket in the first eight overs. But the nature of the pitch and the way the South Africa batters manoeuvred her, that Deepti only got the one wicket, of Sinalo Jafta, in her first seven overs. Wickets had been falling at the other end, though, and South Africa needed 92 from 66 with five wickets in hand when Deepti began her eighth.
Deepti is known for her variations and her deception, gained from over 250 international games and two overseas T20 leagues. She sent down a yorker that Annerie Dercksen, whom she had dropped on 24, couldn't pick and was bowled for 35. The cross-seam delivery was a reminder of how Deepti thought on her feet when the conditions were not in her favour or if the batters were going after her, just like in India's opening game, when Chamari Athapaththu was taking her down. She nailed this one. Just like when Tammy Beaumont were looking to accelerate after a half-century opening stand before Deepti darted a quicker one that bowled her around her legs.
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Deepti has been a consistent death-overs bowler this tournament and that responsibility could have felt heavier in front of a packed stadium. It didn't show when she got the biggest one of them: Laura Wolvaardt. Deepti fired one in flat to the century-maker with the field spread out and the miscued slog sweep went to Amanjot Kaur at deep midwicket, and the crowd caught its collective breath as Amanjot juggled the ball before completing the catch on the third attempt. Three balls later came another pace variation and when Chloe Tryon missed a flatter one to be given lbw.
"I've always like challenges so I was confident going into my second and third spells," Deepti told the host broadcaster after the game. "When we got the momentum with Dercksen's wicket and then Laura's wicket, I had this belief that as a senior player I have to pick up my performance and back the others.
"I always look to use variations along with my stock ball and I know when to use which one, like against a set batter or a new batter. I've also practiced for them a lot in the WPL and other series, so all those games helped me. That season of the WPL when I was the MVP (2024) it really helped me."
Emergence of the quick-scoring lower-order batter
Deepti has rescued India on several occasions with the bat in this World Cup, too, while also scoring runs quickly. It was the lift in her strike rate in 2025 that added a new dimension to her game. When India were 121 for 5 against Sri Lanka, Deepti steered the ship with a run-a-ball 53 that gave them a competitive score.
As much as the thought lingered after the England loss that she should have carried the team through in the chase, Deepti had scored 50 off 57 and kept India going till the 47th over. And then in the finale, she again produced a gritty run-a-ball 58 when the two batters before her - Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet - had fallen with strike rates of under 70. Her expansive slog sweeps in search of boundaries, her six off Marizanne Kapp, her singles and doubles in the end when South Africa's quicks took the pace off the ball to stem the flow of runs helped India inch closer and closer to the 300 mark that they wanted to get.
Deepti's knocks this World Cup combined for 215 runs at a strike rate of 90.33, not far behind her strike rate of 103.25 this year until the World Cup had started, a remarkable improvement from 71.38 in the last two years.
"My batting used to come mainly in the last 15 overs so I worked on it with Bala bhaiyya (her brother Sumit) in recent times," Deepti said. "I worked on the shots that I would have to play in the slog overs. So I improved accordingly and tried to stay positive."
It was fitting that it was Deepti who sealed India's maiden World Cup triumph when she had Nadine de Klerk caught by a leaping Harmanpreet to get the party started, for her team, the near-40,000 crowd at the ground, and millions of Indian watching from around the world.
And the next time someone says Deepti Sharma, South Africa and World Cup together, the night that will be remembered is the one on November 2, 2025, Navi Mumbai. Capped off with Deepti proudly holding the Player-of-the-Tournament trophy, big smile on her face.