Deepti Sharma joins Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana in elite 150-T20I club at Asia Cup opener

NEW DELHI: Deepti Sharma on Sunday reached another milestone in her distinguished international career, becoming only the third Indian player to appear in 150 women’s T20Is. The veteran all-rounder achieved the milestone during India’s Women’s T20 Asia Cup 2026 Group A opener against Thailand in Dubai, joining captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana in the exclusive Indian club.Harmanpreet leads the tally with 202 T20I appearances while Mandhana has made 171. Deepti also became only 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, she had scored 1,270 runs and 168 wickets in 149 T20Is since her international debut more than a decade ago.

Deepti’s decade of influence

Deepti has established herself as one of the most valuable all-rounders in the Indian set-up, capable of changing the course of a match with bat or ball. Her ability to bowl important overs, contribute runs in the middle and lower order and handle pressure situations has made her a key part of India’s plans in major tournaments.Her record in the Women’s Asia Cup further underscores her impact in the competition. Sunday’s match was her fourth edition of the tournament after making her debut in 2018. She entered the match with 19 Asia Cup appearances, 148 runs and 26 wickets.Her highest score in the tournament is 64 against UAE in 2022, while her 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, she took 13 wickets to top the bowling charts, surpassing Sri Lanka’s Inoka Ranaweera, who also took 13 wickets, based on her higher economy rate and bowling average. Deepti retained the top wicket mark in 2024 after taking 10 wickets.With the conditions in Dubai potentially offering help to the spinners, her experience could once again prove vital for India as they look to get their campaign off to a flying start.

Pratika Rawal handed a maiden T20I cap

The match in Thailand was also an important moment for Pratika Rawal, who received her first T20I cap from Harmanpreet. Rawal was brought into the squad after Jemimah Rodrigues was ruled out of the Asia Cup and the upcoming Asian Games due to a right hamstring injury.Harmanpreet confirmed before the match that Rawal would make his debut and said that India wanted to play with more ruthlessness during the tournament.“Today Pratika is making her debut as Jemi is not there. We want to play good cricket. We have talked about being ruthless and this is an important tournament for us,” said Harmanpreet.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 field, with captain Thipatcha Putthawong saying her side was excited to face India and hoped to restrict them to a maximum of 170.