Deepti Sharma

In Deepti Sharma, India have the perfect all-format player - a spinner who could keep things tight, and make crucial contributions down the order. But it wasn't always that way.

Deepti first attracted attention when, in 2016, she became the youngest Indian - male or female - to pick up an ODI five-wicket haul. She was 18 then. She made it a six-for, making her only the second India woman to do so in an ODI. But her moment of real fame came with the bat in 2017, when she scored 188 against Ireland in an ODI and was involved in a 320-run opening stand with Punam Raut, a world record.

A left-hand batter who bowls right-arm offspin, Deepti idolised fellow Uttar Pradesh player Suresh Raina, and prides herself on her fielding. Incidentally, it was her casual throw that hit the stumps, while she was hanging around at her brother's training session in Agra, that caught the attention of former India player Hemalata Kala, the chair of selectors then, and she took Deepti under her wing.

Deepti played her first senior domestic season in 2014-15, at just 16 years of age, for Uttar Pradesh, before she was roped in to represent Bengal from 2017-18 to 2023-24 before moving back to Uttar Pradesh. Over the years, she rose to prominence as a reliable offspinner, often befuddling batters with the different speeds she bowled at. She also found home as a batter in India's lower-middle order in white-ball cricket, even if she divided opinion because of her batting style and tempo. But she has not just been a consistent performer but also a constant in the Indian set-up across formats.

Deepti's first experience at an overseas league was the now-defunct Kia Super League in 2019, where she starred in Western Storm's title win. She has since played in the WBBL as well as the Hundred. Back home, she was picked by UP Warriorz for INR 2.6 crore in the inaugural WPL auction in 2023, and a year later became the first Indian to take a hat-trick in the competition.