India’s star all-rounder Deepti Sharma is just one wicket away from making history as the leading wicket-taker in women’s T20Is. She is currently tied with Australia’s Megan Schutt at 151 wickets. Sharma can achieve this milestone when she takes the field in the fifth and final T20I against Sri Lanka on Tuesday at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.
India leads the series 4-0. Sharma became the first-ever Indian, across both men’s and women’s cricket, to reach the 150-wicket mark in the shortest format, with 151 wickets in 132 matches at an average of 18.94. Her best figures are 4/10.
Sharma reached this milestone by dismissing Sri Lanka’s Kavisha Dilhari during the third T20I last week. Her spell of 3/18 in that match
also helped her surpass Ellyse Perry, who has 331 wickets in 271 international matches, with a total of 333 wickets, making her the third-highest wicket-taker in all of women’s international cricket.
Above her in the women’s international wicket-taking charts are England’s Katherine Sciver Brunt with 335 wickets in 275 matches and Indian icon Jhulan Goswami with 355 wickets in 291 matches. In women’s ODIs, Deepti is the eighth-leading wicket-taker and India’s second-best after Jhulan Goswami, with 162 wickets in 121 matches at an average of 27.32. Her best figures in ODIs are 6/20, and she has three four-wicket hauls and four five-wicket hauls.
Most Wickets In Women’s T20Is
| Player Name | Matches | Wickets |
| Megan Schutt (AUS) | 122 | 151 |
| Deepti Sharma (IND) | 132 | 151 |
| Henriette Ishimwe (RWA) | 117 | 144 |
| Nida Dar (PAK) | 160 | 144 |
| Sophie Ecclestone (ENG) | 101 | 142 |
In five Tests, she has taken 20 wickets at an average of 18.10, with one four-wicket haul and one five-wicket haul. Additionally, Sharma made history by becoming the first-ever cricketer in both men’s and women’s games to register 1,000 runs and 150 wickets in T20 Internationals.
Besides her 151 T20I wickets, she has also scored 1,100 runs in 132 matches at an average of 23.40 and a strike rate of 104.26, with two half-centuries in 81 innings.
(With Agency Inputs)
