Tag: Deepti Sharma

Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc has been named the leading men’s cricketer in the world by Wisden Almanack, while India’s Deepti Sharma was named the leading women’s cricketer on Monday.

The UK-based Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, which dates back to 1864, is an annual record of all major cricket worldwide and is regarded as the sport’s “Bible”.

The publication named four Indian players who starred in a thrilling 2-2 drawn Test series in England last year among its five cricketers of the year.

Men’s Test captain Shubman Gill, spin-bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj were all on the list.

The only English player in the group of five was former Test opener Haseeb Hameed, who led Nottinghamshire to the County Championship in 2025.

Players can only receive the award once in their careers, and it is based predominantly on performances during the previous English season.

Gill also received the Wisden Trophy for Test performance of the year after he scored 269 and 161 in the second Test at Edgbaston.

Deepti Sharma succeeds compatriot Smriti Mandhana as Wisden’s leading women’s cricketer of the year for her all-round performances in India’s 50-over World Cup triumph, with Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc receiving the men’s award.

Starc, 36, claimed 55 Test wickets at 17.32 in 11 Tests in the calendar year, including a career-best haul of 6 for 9 against West Indies.

He then backed that up with 18 wickets in the first two Tests of the 2025-26 Ashes, en route to a series-winning haul of 31 at 19.93.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Meanwhile, Sharma, 28, was India’s player of the tournament as they claimed their maiden 50-over women’s World Cup crown with a 52-run win over South Africa in the final in Navi Mumbai.

In the course of the campaign, she scored 215 runs at 30.71 alongside 22 wickets at 20.40, and excelled in the final with a run-a-ball 58 and a match-sealing haul of 5 for 39.

The prolific Abhishek Sharma was named Wisden’s leading T20 cricketer of the year.

Wisden editor Lawrence Booth, however, criticised the increasing Indian influence on English domestic cricket’s Hundred, with four of the eight franchises now linked to owners of Indian Premier League teams after a huge influx of private investment.

“The competition’s new ownership structure risks turning The Hundred into an IPL proxy event, more for the benefit of Indian businessmen than English cricket,” wrote Booth.

He also pulled no punches in labelling England’s woeful Ashes campaign as “feckless, reckless and legless”.

England, humiliated 4-1 by Australia, were criticised for insufficient planning, confused tactics and an over-relaxed approach to off-field behaviour, highlighted by reports of excessive drinking during a mid-tour break.

“In the game’s long history, it is hard to think of a privilege so carelessly squandered, a chance so blithely spurned,” wrote Booth.

“England were feckless, reckless and legless. These were the wing-and-a-prayer Ashes and England got what they deserved. What a waste. What a shame.”

READ: Babar Azam reflects on Peshawar Zalmi’s unbeaten run in PSL 11

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: India’s spin-bowling all-rounder Deepti Sharma scripted history on Tuesday by becoming the highest all-time wicket-taker in women’s T20Is, capping off a dominant series for the hosts against Sri Lanka.

Deepti reached the landmark during the fifth and final T20I in Thiruvananthapuram, where her dismissal of Nilakshika Silva took her tally to 152 wickets in the format.

The milestone came as India sealed a 15-run victory to complete a comprehensive 5-0 clean sweep of the series.

With the breakthrough, Deepti overtook Australia pacer Megan Schutt, who previously held the record with 151 wickets. Pakistan’s Nida Dar now sits third on the list with 144 scalps.

Player	Team	Matches	Wickets	Avg	BBI
Deepti Sharma	India	133	152	19.0	4/10
Meghan Shutt	Australia	123	151	17.7	5/15
Nida Dar	Pakistan	160	144	20.2	5/21
Henriette Ishimwe	Rwanda	117	144	10.3	5/6
Sophie Ecclestone	England	101	142	15.7	4/18

The 28-year-old achieved the feat in 133 matches since making her T20I debut in 2016, further underlining her consistency and longevity at the highest level.

Beyond the headline record, Deepti Sharma also became the first cricketer, male or female, in history to score more than 1,000 runs and claim 150 or more wickets in T20 Internationals.

She is also the first woman to take 150-plus wickets in both ODIs and T20Is.

Notably, Sharma has 334 wickets across international cricket, 20 in Tests, 162 in ODIs and 152 in T20Is.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

She is closing in on legendary fast bowler Jhulan Goswami, who leads the all-time women’s international wicket charts with 355. England great Katherine Sciver-Brunt is just ahead of Deepti with 335 wickets.

Among players from Full Member nations, only 12 women have taken 25 or more T20I wickets in a single year, and Deepti is the only one to have achieved that feat twice, in 2022 and 2024.

She also stands alone among the seven women to claim 50 or more international wickets in a calendar year, having done so in three separate years, 2022, 2024 and 2025.

READ: Pakistan Cricket in 2025: A Year Caught Between Transition and Promise

LONDON: England all-rounder Moeen Ali shared his views on the controversial run-out of Charlie Dean, saying he will never do such dismissal and hoped that it should not become a regular occurrence in international cricket. 

A debate has been sparked in the cricketing circles ever since Indian women’s team bowler Deepti Sharma mankaded England’s Charlie Dean to complete the whitewash over the hosts.

Moeen in his latest interview with English news outlet The Telegraph, opined that although there was nothing illegal with such a dismissal, it was not his type of thing to do.

“No, it’s not my thing,” Moeen told. “I don’t think I’ll ever do it unless I was really angry with someone. It’s in the laws and there’s nothing illegal so people that do it have the right, but I just hope it doesn’t become a common thing or something that’s regularly done.”

England’s stand-in captain for the T20I series against Pakistan added: “You’re not really working to get a wicket. At least with a run-out, there’s a bit of work that has to be done, and with all the other dismissals. This is just waiting for the guy and taking the bails off. Even when I played cricket as a kid in the garden, it’s not my thing to do.”

The dismissal that Moeen was referring to is currently listed in the MCC’s ‘Unfair Play’ section of the laws.

Recently, Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) also clarified its position on the Charlie Dean controversial run-out, stating that the onus remains on the non-striker to stay in the crease until they have seen the bowler release the ball.

Meanwhile, with the enforcement of the new playing conditions introduced by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the section in the laws will be moved to the ‘Run Out’ section from October 1.

England white-ball captain Jos Buttler also opined on the issue in his interview with London-based sports radio network, talkSPORT, saying he would’ve called the batsman back if faced with a similar situation.

“No one wants to see them in the game because they always create such a talking point when it should be about the battle between bat and ball and watching great games of cricket. They always seem to happen at unsavoury times,” he said.

READ: PAK v ENG: Moeen unsure of Buttler’s readiness for last two T20Is

LONDON: England Women’s cricket team captain Heather Knight joined the ongoing debate regarding the controversial end of the third Women’s ODI between India and England.

The debate sparked yet again when India’s bowler Deepti Sharma, who mankad England’s Charlie Dean to complete whitewash over the hosts, said that the team had ‘repeatedly warned’ Dean for leaving the crease too early.

“We did things as per the rules and guidelines,” Deepti said after landing in India.

“We told the umpires as well, but she was there [outside the crease]. We couldn’t do much,” she was quoted as saying by the Indian media.

Deepti’s statement, however, did not go well with Knight, who refuted the former’s claims about repeated warnings and said that ‘India shouldn’t feel the need to justify it by lying.’

“The game is over, Charlie was dismissed legitimately. India were deserved winners of the match and the series. But no warnings were given,” Knight wrote on Twitter.

“They don’t need to be given, so it hasn’t made the dismissal any less legitimate.

“But if they’re comfortable with the decision to affect the run out, India shouldn’t feel the need to justify it by lying about warnings.”

1/2 The game is over, Charlie was dismissed legitimately. India were deserved winners of the match and the series. But no warnings were given. They don’t need to be given, so it hasn’t made the dismissal any less legitimate… https://t.co/TOTdJ3HgJe

— Heather Knight (@Heatherknight55) September 26, 2022

2/2 But if they’re comfortable with the decision to affect the run out, India shouldn’t feel the need to justify it by lying about warnings 🤷🏼‍♀️ https://t.co/TOTdJ3HgJe

— Heather Knight (@Heatherknight55) September 26, 2022

READ: Robertson, Mink win the inaugural World Mixed Doubles title 

PALLEKELE: Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma displayed magnificent all-round performance and bolstered her side to seal a comprehensive four wickets over Sri Lanka in the first ODI.

The young all-rounder Deepti bettered her first inning’s three-for with an unbeaten 22 to steer her side to the victory in 38 overs.

Set to chase a mere 172, the touring side had a dismal start as they lost two wickets for a combined score of 17. Opening batter Shafali Verma and the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur then anchored the run chase with their brilliant 44 runs partnership.

Verma, who was aiming to race up her gritty knock, having smashed two sixes and a boundary for her 35, fell in the 16th over to Inoka Ranaweera as the former charged down the track but missed the ball.

Kaur, on the other hand, held her ground firm and ran into another important partnership for the team. The pair of Kaur and newly-joined Harleen Deol batted sensibly and soon saw their side amassing the hundred runs mark.

Sri Lanka’s pick of the bowlers Ranaweera, however, struck gold for her side as she removed Kaur and Deol in her successive overs and brought her side back in the game. Kaur missed her half-century by six wickets, while Deol managed to score 34.

In her next over, left-arm spinner Ranaweera struck again as she removed Richa Ghosh for a mere six and allowed Sri Lanka to make an exceptional comeback.

The unbeaten 38-run partnership between Deepti and Pooja Vastrakar for the seventh wicket, however, diminished the hopes of Sri Lanka as India ran away with the victory by four wickets and 72 balls to spare.

Ranaweera was the star with the ball for the hosts as she claimed four wickets for a mere 39 runs, while Oshadi Ranasinghe made two scalps.

Batting first, the Indian bowlers wreaked havoc over the Sri Lankan batting line-up and bundled out for a skimpy 171 in the 49th over.

Nikashi de Silva displayed resilience against the strong Indian bowling attack as she played a gritty knock of 43 runs and top-scored‘He’s overdoing it’ Misbah on Kohli’s dominating approach towards bowlers for her side.

Besides her, opener Hasini Perera made a significant contribution with her 37 but that too could not bolster Sri Lanka to a commendable total as the rest of the batters could not count big and perished cheaply.

For India, Deepti and Renuka Singh shone with three-fors, while Vastrakar followed back with her two wickets. Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Kaur, on the other hand, struck out a batter each.

READ: ‘He’s overdoing it’ Misbah on Kohli’s dominating approach towards bowlers