After run out saga, Deepti Sharma rises to win Player of the Tournament award in Women’s Asia Cup

Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma won the Player of the Tournament award in Women’s Asia Cup 2022 after she picked up eight wickets and scored 94 runs from eight matches.

After run out saga, Deepti rises to become Player of the Tournament in Asia Cup. Courtesy: Reuters

By Sabyasachi Chowdhury: Deepti Sharma had found herself in a controversial situation after she ran out England’s Charlie Dean at Lord’s. Even as she received support from her skipper, Harmanpreet Kaur, and the rest of her teammates, Deepti was a recipient of severe criticism, especially from the England cricket fraternity.

England skipper, Heather Knight, who missed the series due to a hip injury, refused to mince words and slammed Deepti and the rest of the Indian players for lying over giving warnings to Dean before the dismissal. Deepti’s run out had come at a crucial stage as it gave India a 3-0 whitewash in the ODI series.

However, Deepti didn’t allow all the noise to ruffle her by means. In fact, the 25-year-old upped her game in the Women’s Asia Cup. The Agra-born all-rounder became the Player of the Tournament as the Women in Blue won the prestigious tournament for the seventh time in eight seasons.

DEEPTI RAISES BAR

Deepti finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker along with Sri Lanka’s Inoka Ranaweera. The off-spinner picked up 13 wickets from eight matches at an unbelievable economy rate of 3.33. What’s more unbelievable was the fact that she finished with figures of 4-0-7-0 in the final on Saturday.

Barring the final and the league match against the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Deepti picked up at least one wicket in every game. She also picked up a couple of three-wicket hauls against Thailand and Pakistan, captained by Bismah Maroof.

Deepti scored only 94 runs, but her knock against the UAE eventually helped India finish on top of the points table. Deepti had scored 64 off 49 balls with five fours and two sixes, after which India beat the UAE by as many as 104 runs in Sylhet.

All in all, there weren’t many players who showed Deepti’s level of consistency in the entire championship. Not to forget that she was effective in fielding as well.

It’s almost been eight years since Deepti first donned the Indian jersey. After eight years, it can be said that she is an indispensable member of the national team, at least in limited-overs cricket.