The 29-year-old said the gold medal carried a different significance from the trophies she has collected during her cricket career…Reports India Daily News Desk
India all-rounder Deepti Sharma has described winning the women’s T20 gold medal at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya as an experience unlike anything she had felt before, saying even biting the medal on the podium gave her a “next level” feeling.
Deepti was part of the Harmanpreet Kaur-led India side that successfully defended its Asian Games title with a commanding 147-run victory over Sri Lanka at Korogi Sports Park in Nisshin.
Reflecting on the triumph, the off-spin bowling all-rounder said the experience of standing on the podium with the national team and watching the Indian flag rise was difficult to put into words.
“I can’t even express the feeling of winning the gold medal because we haven’t had that much of a habit of getting it yet, just like how we have been winning trophies,” Deepti told broadcasters Star Sports during the WPL 2027 retention deadline show on Monday.
“But it felt really good on the podium with the national anthem, and when everyone was lined up with the team, it felt really good. When our flag was there, it was an amazing feeling.”
The 29-year-old said the gold medal carried a different significance from the trophies she has collected during her cricket career.
“The feeling of a gold medal is always different, and when you wear it and even bite it for a bit, I can tell you, it’s a very different level of feeling because we’ve only had the trophies so far, but it’s a next level feeling,” she said.
Deepti’s attention now turns to the Women’s Premier League, with UP Warriorz retaining the Agra-born all-rounder ahead of the 2027 season.
She joined the franchise after being bought for Rs 3.2 crore at the WPL mega auction in New Delhi in November 2025 and said representing a team from her home state added an emotional connection to the competition.
“As a player, I always think about how I can stay neutral, and this is the thing that keeps me moving forward. How can I do better? So, I think it’s a good opportunity because, obviously, I belong to UP, from Agra, and playing for the UP team, I feel that connection is on a different level,” she said.
Deepti also highlighted the added significance of having her family watch her play in the WPL.
“When the family comes to see WPL, it’s even more fun. It feels like we’re at home,” she added.
The all-rounder will be looking to improve on her returns from the 2026 WPL season, when she scored 131 runs and claimed seven wickets.
Deepti said her approach as a finisher is centred on making the most of whatever opportunity she receives in the batting order, regardless of the number of balls available.
“The finishers are those who finish the game at the end, and as a finisher, I’ve been given the role that I’ve been given in matches from the start,” she said.
“So, I always think that whichever number I go to or the balls I get, make sure that I finish in double of it, and whatever total is there on the scoreboard, it stays in our mind that there are so many balls left; you have to keep this much total.”
For Deepti, the experience of managing different situations during an innings is also part of the learning process.
“So, when we play things in our mind, we get to learn a lot from that innings,” she concluded.
