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For Deepti Sharma, India’s maiden Women’s World Cup triumph at home was more than just a dream fulfilled. As she said after the win, it was in the team’s destiny. The all-rounder, who delivered standout performances throughout the tournament and particularly in the final, said the team’s long wait for an ICC title was “written to happen in India.”Deepti was at the heart of India’s 52-run win over South Africa in Sunday’s final at the DY Patil Stadium, taking five wickets for 39 runs after scoring a crucial 58 to help India post 298/7. Her all-round effort earned her the Player of the Tournament award, having finished with 22 wickets and 215 runs across the competition. “I am feeling really good, since the day we played the first game of the World Cup, I have performed exactly how I wanted to play as a senior player,” Deepti told PTI. “There cannot be anything better than giving such a good performance in the final and lifting the trophy.” Reflecting on the years of heartbreak before this triumph, she said, “It took us really long to win the World Cup, but what God has written for you happens only at the destined time and I think it was written to take place in India.” The off-spinning all-rounder, who became the first player across men’s and women’s cricket to score a fifty and take a five-wicket haul in a World Cup knockout, added that playing at the DY Patil Stadium carried special significance. “I have so many good memories of DY Patil Stadium as we have won all the series here. We were very positive as a team, and whatever the result might be we will play as a team,” she said. In the final, Shafali Verma top-scored with 87, while Deepti and Richa Ghosh’s late partnership pushed India close to the 300-run mark.
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South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt fought hard with a century, but Deepti’s five-wicket burst sealed the deal for India. As Deepti summed it up, “We wanted to win it as this was happening in India and we had to win this as a team… and now that wait has come to an end.”
