One of the main architects of India's eight-run win over England in the second women's T20I, Deepti Sharma says she has become better at reading & handling tough match situations & enjoys playing under pressure.
Chasing 149, England were cruising in the middle with opener Tammy Beaumont (59) & captain Heather Knight (30), but Sharma was involved in dismissing both batsmen - the former lbw, & the latter an unusual run. -out through. Continuing balls in the 14th over to bring India back into the match.
Sharma said on the post, "I love playing under pressure conditions, be it in any position in the team - batting, bowling or fielding. As an all-rounder, I just want to contribute to my department & help the team." I want to move on." Match Virtual Press Conference. “I like to lead from the front, like in domestic tournaments when I play as a senior player & win matches for my team, it gives me a different confidence.
"When you bring that confidence here, of course the stage isn't easy but it depends on how you handle it. Now I know how to read & handle situations, so I It feels easy to play because I know I can handle things easily."
After that 14th over, England needed 43 off the last 36 balls, with six wickets in hand, but lost – Sharma had started a deadly slide.
Sharma said, "It was a crucial over & [Beaumont's] important wicket. Earlier [in the same over] also we had taken a DRS [review against Beaumont] but we were unlucky [because the ball pitched out] " "Next, when I bowled [Beaumont was given LBW, England reviewed & this time] it was the umpire's call & it was hitting the stumps. That gave us a lot of confidence.
"We came back after that & then the run out helped us to pull the match back."
The 23-year-old also contributed with the bat, scoring 24 off 27 balls as India posted 148 for 4. Opener Shafali Verma (48 off 38) & captain Harmanpreet Kaur (31 off 25) were the other major contributors.
"When I was batting, I was looking to build a partnership & score six to seven runs per over," Sharma said. "It was the mindset but we couldn't score as much as we wanted. We got off to a good start, we thought we could score 160 but 140 was not bad because we knew as a bowling unit, we Used to bowl in partnership. And we were supporting each other & we could defend the total."
He said the conditions were a bit tough to bat at Hove's County Ground. "Actually the wicket was holding up a bit. In the last match the ball was coming to the bat but today it was caught, a bit slower than the pitch, so it was a bit difficult to bat."
With the series tied at 1-1, India will take on England in the third & final T20I on 14 July to end their UK tour.