World Cup victory is also not very far now, says Deepti Sharma after Asia Cup victory | Cricket News

SYLHET: A World Cup win is not far off now, India’s star all-rounder Deep Sharma declared after the team’s record-extending seventh Women’s Asia Cup title triumph Saturday.
Barring a blip against Pakistan that came courtesy of some bizarre planning and experiments, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side have been starring in the continental T20 tournament.

The final against Sri Lanka was a one-sided affair as they restricted the islanders to a paltry 65/9 en route to an eight-wicket victory.
“As a team, we did well from the first game to the final. Obviously, it gives you confidence when you win the final,” Deepti, who was adjudged Player of the Tournament, said during the post-match media interaction .
The 25-year-old off-spinner all-rounder topped the scoring with 13 wickets from eight matches at an average of 7.69. She opened the bowling in the final and returned with tidy figures of 4-0-7-0, setting the tone.
“As a team we did well and supported each other, which is good. Throughout the tournament we wanted to enjoy every game.”
India have now won all the editions of the Asia Cup except the last time in 2018 when they lost to Bangladesh.
However, the ‘Women in Blue’ have yet to taste success at world level.
They lost the ODI World Cup final twice (2005 and 2017), while India finished runners-up to Australia in the last edition of the T20I World Cup in 2020.
But boosted by the Asia Cup win, Deepti said a World Cup win is not far off. The next edition of the T20 World Cup in South Africa is just four months away.
“If we work like this as a bowling and batting unit, the World Cup is not very far either. That will be the mindset when we next play a final. Definitely, this Asia Cup triumph will help a lot, the winning moment gives you confidence for the upcoming series,” Deepti added.
“Our focus was always to do well, rather than just win and it was to take one game at a time,” she said of their approach in the Asia Cup.
“As a bowling unit we planned to back our strengths and focus on our skills. We bowled in partnerships that put them under pressure and they threw away their wickets.
“They (Sri Lanka) did well in the semi-finals and we didn’t take them lightly. But that’s how the sport is, one team wins and another loses. They did well throughout the tournament. Maybe it was not their day today,” she concluded.