Deepti Sharma wants to master the carrom-ball like Ashwin

Nineteen-year-old Deepti Sharma, who has gained a huge following with her all-round exploits in the Women's World Cup, has modelled herself on Ravichandran Ashwin and wants to master the carrom ball like her male counterpart.

"I follow Ashwin a lot. He is my role model. I do have my own style of bowling the carrom ball but I want to bowl that with Ashwin-like accuracy," the Agra cricketer said on the sidelines of the BCCI felicitation on Thursday.

Deepti never dreamt of playing the game. It all just fell into place for her after she started as a nine-year-old.

As fate would have it 10 years later, she played a vital role, both in the middle-order and with her off-spinners, in helping India reach their second ever World Cup final.

She made 216 runs at 30.85 and ended up as the third highest leading wicket taker with 12 scalps.

Deepti, the youngest of the seven siblings, says she focuses equally on bat and ball and wants to become a world- class all-rounder.

"I want to focus on all-round skills. I batted in the middle-order during the tournament but I am comfortable batting at any number.

"As far as my bowling is concerned, I decide whether to flight the ball or bowl flatter after anticipating the mindset of the batter," she said.

Deepti was gutted at not taking her team past the finishing line in the World Cup final, where India lost their last seven wickets for 28 runs.

"When I was batting, I thought only about finishing the game. Required run rate was not much and we should have easily chased it down.

"As it turned out, it was not our day. How to handle pressure in crunch situations has been the most important lesson from this tournament."
Like her teammates, Deepti feels good to be recognised in the post World Cup euphoria.

However, she has not yet thought about what she will do with Rs 50 lakh cash prize awarded to her by the BCCI.

"As of now, I just want to go back to Agra and spend time with my family. I have been away from home for months now," said the daughter of a retired Railways employee.

After their stellar showing, the calls for a Women's IPL has also gained momentum. Deepti says the league will be great for the game.

"I feel it should have started with the men's IPL back in 2008. However, it is never too late. It will be really beneficial for Indian women's cricket," she added.

-PTI