Deepti Sharma came into India‘s T20I series against South Africa fresh from being named Wisden’s leading female player of 2025 and with good reason.
She was the leading wicket-taker at last year’s ODI World Cup, thanks largely to the 5 for 39 she took against South Africa in the final. She also scored a run-a-ball 58 in that match, which was six runs more than India’s eventual victory margin. Add to that that she was also India’s second-highest wicket-taker in T20Is – calling her the best allrounder of last year is no understatement. But things haven’t gone quite as well in 2026.
In five T20Is, Deepti has batted four times and scored three runs. She has only taken one wicket. In this series, she was India’s least economical bowler in the first T20I and conceded 24 runs in 13 balls. Things improved in match two, where her three overs cost 23 runs but she has gone wicket-less. With less than two months to go to the T20 World Cup, is there a reason to be concerned?
“Deepti is a champion player. We all know that. One or two games or three games doesn’t justify the kind of talent she has, the kind of performance she has done over the years. We all know that she has been a champion player. Champion bowler, champion batter, champion all-rounder throughout her career,” Aavishkar Salvi, India’s bowling coach said at the Wanderers, where the third and fourth matches of the series will be played.
“This is the stage where she is probably not at her best as of now. But going back to the drawing board, she is working hard in the camp. She is working hard on her fitness. She is also working hard on her bowling in the nets. She is always there taking up those challenges where she is also bowling against the batter. She is also doing target bowling practice. And she is discussing all her game plans, what she wants to use during the games. It’s only a matter of a few instances where probably she just strikes and she comes back shining.”
But Deepti isn’t India’s only concern. South Africa won the Durban matches by margins of six and four wickets respectively. Though they made hard work of chasing down 158 in game one, and only reached the target in the final over, they were clinical in reaching a target of 148 in game two, and won with 17 balls to spare. While South Africa have claimed 17 Indian wickets in two matches, India have taken only six.
With the contest moving to the Highveld, generally known for more pace and bounce, the seamers will come into greater focus. India swapped out Renuka Singh and Kashvee Gautam (who conceded 54 runs in six overs between them in match one) for Kranti Gaud and Anuksha Sharma in the second game but none of them had any wicket-taking success. Salvi believes it’s all part of the process of finding the best attack. “There are a lot of combinations being tried out in terms of who will bowl in the powerplay and what are our options. We are just creating an option bank for all of us,” he said. “And in that way, we are missing out on picking up those early wickets. If you see the larger picture, we are actually giving opportunities to all the bowlers to operate into that segment so that we don’t rely only on a few bowlers coming into the main event. That’s how we are looking at it.”
As far as early strikes go, Gautam will have plenty of eyes on her as she makes her name on the international stage. After a difficult debut in Durban, Johannesburg should suit her even more. “She is an exciting talent. She is a youngster. She has done really well in the kind of opportunities she has got before coming into the series,” Salvi said. “The game in Durban that she got, I thought the wicket suited her but I think she didn’t perform the way she would have wanted. She is working into the nets. She is having discussions with the coaches, with the senior players as well. It’s still early days for her into the international circuit. And obviously, as a youngster, she is trying to grab as much as she can.”
Salvi and Gautam will also be aware that their matches are taking place unusually late in the South African season and the surfaces are playing in slightly out-of-character ways. The Wanderers could be slower than usual and run-scoring may be particularly sluggish. That will also worry India after they squandered good starts in Durban. They were 119 for 2 in the 15th over in match one but lost five for 37 and 99 for 2 in the 13th over in match two and lost 8 for 48. Salvi is sure the middle order will put that right.
“After the two games we sat together and analysed what went wrong. We started off pretty well. You see both the games in 12 overs or so we were at 100 but after that we couldn’t finish the way we wanted them to. But that always happens in cricket. You plan something, sometimes it gets executed, sometimes it doesn’t get executed. The awareness is there. The understanding is there. And I am sure the girls are going to bounce back stronger.”
India must win Wednesday’s match to remain in the series, which South Africa lead 2-nil.
