"World Cup is too far to think about": Deepti Sharma after India's 5-0 win

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], December 31 (ANI): Team India all-rounder Deepti Sharma reflected on India's 5-0 series sweep over Sri Lanka following their victory in the fifth and final T20I on Tuesday. She also shared her thoughts on becoming the highest wicket-taker in Women's T20Is, noting that the team is focusing on each match individually, with the T20 World Cup still a distant goal.
Deepti Sharma surpassed Australia's Megan Scutt for the milestone of most wickets in Women's T20Is. She now has 152 wickets to her name in 133 matches at an average of 19.00.
India registered a 5-0 clean sweep over Sri Lanka as the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side defeated Chamari Athapaththu's team by 15 runs in the fifth IND vs SL Women's T20I. The clean sweep comes as a significant boost for the Indian team ahead of the 2026 Women's T20 World Cup, set to take place in June-July next year.
At the post-match press conference, Deepti expressed her happiness at reaching the milestone for most T20I wickets, adding that she aims to deliver impactful performances for the team.
The India all-rounder credited everyone in the team for the 5-0 result, calling it a complete team performance and noted it's good to carry on the winning momentum from he 2025 ODI World Cup.
"It always feels good when you reach such milestones. I always try to give an impactful performance to help my team. This 5-0 result is a reward for everyone's contributions to the team; it was a complete team performance. It's good to carry on the winning momentum from the ODI World Cup to this T20I series," Deepti said in the press conference.
Deepti stated that while the Women's T20 World Cup is the ultimate goal, the team is focusing on taking each match and series at a time, highlighting the benefit of having multiple match winners in the team.
"The T20 World Cup is too far to think about at the moment. While the ultimate goal is definitely the World Cup, we are taking it match by match, series by series as series. There's been different match winners for us, and that's great for the team," she added.
Coming to the fifth T20I match, India won by 15 runs. Chasing a target of 176, Indian bowlers restricted the visitors to 160 in their 20 overs.
Sri Lanka batted well, but it was not enough in the end. Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu went early, but the impressive Imesha Dulani and Hasini Perera added 79 for the 2nd wicket and kept their side in the hunt.
However, late wickets in the innings restricted Sri Lanka to 16 runs short. Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's brilliant fifty, along with a fiery cameo from Arundhati Reddy in the last over, powered India to 175/7.
Reddy and Sneh Rana added a vital 33 runs off 14 balls for the 8th wicket to help India reach a fighting total. Reddy slammed 20 runs off Malki Madara in the last over.
Reddy's innings in the back end made the difference for both sides in the match. (ANI)