Deepti Sharma joins Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana in elite 150-T20I club in Asia Cup opener | cricket news

NEW DELHI: Deepti Sharma reached another milestone in her distinguished international career on Sunday, becoming the third Indian player to feature in 150 women’s T20Is. The experienced all-rounder achieved the milestone during India’s first Group A match of India’s Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2026 against Thailand in Dubai, joining captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana in an exclusive Indian club.Harmanpreet leads the list with 202 T20I appearances, while Mandhana has played 171. Deepti also became the 12th cricketer overall to reach the 150-match mark in the shortest format.The milestone is another reflection of Deepti’s longevity and importance to India. Before Sunday’s match, he had scored 1,270 runs and taken 168 wickets in 149 T20Is since making his international debut more than a decade ago.

Deepti’s decade of impact

Deepti has established herself as one of the most valuable all-rounders on the Indian scene, capable of changing the course of a match with the bat or the ball. Her ability to bowl big overs, contribute runs in the middle and lower order and handle pressure situations have made her a key part of India’s plans in major tournaments.Her record in the Women’s Asia Cup further underlines her impact on the competition. Sunday’s match was his fourth edition of the tournament after debuting in 2018. He came into the match with 19 Asia Cup appearances, 148 runs and 26 wickets.His highest score in the tournament is 64, which came against the United Arab Emirates in 2022, while his best bowling figures are 3/7 against Thailand in the same edition. Deepti has been particularly effective with the ball, finishing as the leading wicket-taker in each of the previous two editions.In 2022, he claimed 13 wickets to finish at the top of the bowling charts, surpassing Sri Lanka’s Inoka Ranaweera, who also took 13 wickets, due to his superior economy rate and bowling average. Deepti retained the tag of leading wicket-taker in 2024 after taking 10 wickets.With the conditions in Dubai potentially offering help to the spinners, their experience could once again prove crucial for India as they look to get their campaign off to a good start.

Pratika Rawal handed over the T20I maiden cap

The match against Thailand also marked an important moment for Pratika Rawal, who received her first T20I cap from Harmanpreet. Rawal came into the team after Jemimah Rodrigues was ruled out of the Asia Cup and the upcoming Asian Games with a right hamstring injury.Harmanpreet confirmed before the match that Rawal would be making his debut and said India wanted to play more ruthlessly during the tournament.“Today Pratika debuts because Jemi is not here. Playing good cricket is what we want to do. We have talked about being ruthless and this is an important tournament for us,” Harmanpreet said.India entered the Asia Cup looking to overcome an inconsistent run in T20Is, having lost nine of their previous 16 matches this year. Thailand won the toss and elected to play, and captain Thipatcha Putthawong said her team was excited to face India and hoped to limit them to no more than 170.