T20 World Cup star Deepti Sharma felicitated by Bengal government

Indian women’s team cricketer Deepti Sharma was felicitated by the West Bengal government for her achievements in the recently concluded ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia. The Women in Blue reached the finals of the tournament for the first time while remaining unbeaten in the league stages.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led team even defeated the hosts Australia in the tournament opener and then went on a winning spree. They were then awarded the win on the basis of points in the semi-final against England after the encounter was rained out. It proved to be the best outing for the Indian women who were defeated four times in ICC events by England in knockout matches.

Deepti Sharma made 116 runs and picked four wickets in the tournament  

The 22-year-old all-rounder Deepti Sharma picked four wickets in the whole tournament with figures of 2/38 in her four overs with wickets of Meg Lanning and Ashleigh Gardner in the final of the tournament against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). She had given just 17 runs away in the very first match of the T20 World Cup against the hosts as well in her quota of four overs.

Deepti received recognition by the Bengal government for her brilliant performance in the ICC event. She had a good outing against Sri Lanka as well, giving 16 runs and picking a wicket. Deepti took to Twitter to share her joy.

“Privileged to be felicitated by the Dept. of Youth Services and Sports, Govt. of WB. Thank you for this honor Mr Laxmi Ratan Shukla (Ex- Cricketer, MoS – Youth Services and Sports), Mr Arup Biswas(Public Works and Youth Affairs and Sports Minister) and Mr Gurbux Singh (Hockey great),” Deepti tweeted.

Privileged to be felicitated by the Dept. of Youth Services and Sports, Govt. of WB. Thank you for this honour Mr Laxmi Ratan Shukla (Ex- Cricketer, MoS – Youth Services & Sports), Mr Arup Biswas(Public Works and Youth Affairs and Sports Minister) & Mr Gurbux Singh (Hockey great) pic.twitter.com/oiYFmJ6ST1

— Deepti Sharma (@Deepti_Sharma06) March 14, 2020

The Agra-born cricketer has played 54 ODIs and 48 T20I matches for Indian women making 1417 and 423 runs respectively. Her highest score in ODIs is 188, which is the record by an Indian batswoman. She has also taken 64 ODI and 53 T20I wickets with the best ODI figures of 6/20.

She was not the only woman cricketer to be felicitated for her achievements in the Women’s T20 World Cup. Her teammate fast bowler Shikha Pandey was also recognized by the Indian Air Force, in which she holds the rank of Squadron Leader. She was felicitated by Air Marshal MSG Menon. Pandey was instrumental in India’s win over Australia in the tournament opener, as she picked 3/14 in that match.