Former Australian captain Meg Lanning has praised India’s experienced all-rounder Deepti Sharma for her outstanding performance in the first two matches of the ongoing ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. Lanning mentioned
that Deepti’s strong start to the tournament “will make other teams very nervous.”
Deepti is currently the top wicket-taker in the tournament, having taken six wickets in two games. She achieved her best figures of 3-45 against Pakistan. In India’s opening match against Sri Lanka, she also made a significant contribution with the bat, scoring an essential run-a-ball 53.
“She’s obviously got a lot of experience behind her now and playing conditions that she knows really well and she seems to have found a really nice spot in the middle order there to be able to come in and play how she wants. You know the good thing with Deepti is she can come in if you’ve lost a few wickets and sort of settle things down and right the ship but if she needs to come in and dominate and be a bit more aggressive, you can also do that. So that’s a really good thing to have in the middle order,” said Lanning to the ICC.
“Then with the ball she’s very clever. You know just subtle changes here and there are very effective and she knows what works so to start off the tournament really well will give her a lot of belief and it’ll make some other sides very nervous, I think, to have her playing so well, and especially because they’ve got so many other match winners too,” she added.
What About Others In Team India?
Despite low scores from key batters Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana in the first two matches, Lanning believes that India’s early wins will boost the team’s confidence.
“They’ve started off really nicely and I think the thing that will give them a lot of confidence is they probably haven’t had contributions or major contributions from Mandhana and (Harmanpreet) to of their key batters. So to be able to be winning early on in the tournament without those two dominating I think will be very helpful for them and give them a lot of confidence that when those two do dominate and fire that it sort of takes them to another level,” she further said.
India’s 59-run victory over co-hosts Sri Lanka in the opening match, followed by an 88-run win against Pakistan, has propelled the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side to the top of the table in the eight-nation tournament.
India’s next match is against South Africa at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on October 9, followed by a crucial game against defending champions Australia at the same venue on October 12.
(With inputs from IANS)
