All Rounder Deepti Sharma to play for Bengal

Deepti Sharma, 20, an all-rounder of the Indian Women Cricket team will play for Bengal this year. She is a classy left-handed batter and a right arm off spinner. Prior to shifting her base to Bengal, Deepti used to represent her home side Uttar Pradesh. Earlier this year, she received a no objection certificate (NOC) from Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA), on her request to play for other state teams. She finally decided to go with Bengal Cricket Association after initial talks with Baroda and Railways. Her shift seems to be a shakeup and rare in women’s cricket, especially at the start of the career. Asking her about why she decided to change team she replied, “In Uttar Pradesh team there are not many international players, so I thought going to the team having world class players will improve my game.”

 

She has established herself in the Indian team at a very small age of 20. She has been considered as one of the main pillars of the Indian team representing in 2016 T20 World Cup and the recently concluded 2017 World Cup. With her all-round abilities, she is an added advantage for whichever team she plays for. She is also an extremely good fielder with strong arms. In the recently concluded Women’s World cup she was named in the ICC Team of the Tournament for her 216 runs and 12 wickets alongside Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur of India. Prior to the World Cup, she scored 188 runs against Ireland while opening the innings with Mumbai born Punam Raut. In the same encounter, she was involved in the record breaking partnership of 320 runs with fellow opener Raut. Adding to her accolades, she was awarded the “Best Junior Female Cricketer” (2015-2016) by the BCCI.

 

When asked about her shift to Bengal, the all-rounder said, “I am happy that I’ll be spending this domestic season with Jhulu Di. My job is to work hard and grow as a player, so whichever side offers me the opportunity to do so, I’m willing to work with them. Jhulu Di’s presence is a bigger factor than anything else. Nobody knew women’s cricket but after finishing runners-up everybody follows women’s cricket. I hope they continue to follow us.”

 

Bengal will play Plate Division for the One-Dayers this season. Last season they finished third in plate group B. With the aim of regaining spot in the Elite division. They are grouped among 10 teams in the Elite division for T20 competition. On the induction of the star all-rounder to their team, Bengal coach Jayanta Dastidar said, “Bengal is already a strong team, since we have a player like Jhulan Goswami. To have a genuine all-rounder and an upcoming cricketer will boost our strength. The shift to Bengal is a boon for her as she will get to play with some international cricketers including Jhulan Goswami who is a living legend. This will develop her game.” Indian veteran Jhulan Goswami also welcomed Deepti by saying, “It will benefit Bengal Cricket to have such a talented youngster, who has already established herself in international cricket. It will motivate younger girls to learn the good things from her. Hope she will continue her form and help team to win the matches.”

 

Team Women’s CricZone wishes Deepti Sharma all the best for the entire domestic season.