Indian women’s allrounder Deepti Sharma has been honoured by the West Bengal government for her contribution in the recently concluded ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020. Team India reached the grand finale of the tournament for the first time in WT20 WC cricket history.
In the final, Deepti Sharma bagged the wickets of Meg Lanning and Ashleigh Gardner against Australia. But it was too late then as the openers Alyssa Haley and Beth Mooney had set the game in Australia’s favour. Also, she was the highest scorer for the team, scoring 33 runs, in that marquee clash. But all her effort went into vain as India lost the game by 85 runs.
Deepti Sharma feels privileged
However, the 22-year-old was recognised for her achievement in the tournament. She 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
All in all, she scored 116 runs in five matches and picked four wickets in that tournament.
Shikha Pandey also felicitated for her achievements:
Deepti Sharma is not the only women cricketer to be felicitated for her achievements in the recent Women’s T20 World Cup. Indian Air force recognised her teammate fast bowler Shikha Pandey. She holds the rank of Squadron Leader, and she was felicitated by Air Marshal MSG Menon. Pandey was the fruitful bowler in the whole tournament. In curtain-raiser match against Australia, she picked three wickets while giving only 14 runs. However, she could not repeat the same magic in the final, where she proved expensive.
Meanwhile, India’s women team has no match or series scheduled because of coronavirus outbreak. There were also talks about starting women’s IPL, but due to the spread of the virus, it seems impossible.