Analysis | Deepti Sharma and her unusual negative bowling impact
Written By: Jeet Vachharajani
Date: 22-12-2022
Picture Courtesy: Cricket Queens
Deepti Sharma is a bowler whose primary role is to contain runs and hold one end up. She doesn't concede many and picks up a wicket or two at the backend to finish with decent-looking figures in most games. She generally bowls quicker through the air and doesn't look to spin the ball much, and that is the first weapon in the armory of a spinner who is meant to keep things tight. Most of the spells that Deepti has bowled in T20Is have seen her end with an economy of 5 or less per over.
But when the bowler meant to contain runs ends up being the bowler who leaks runs game after game, then something is going seriously wrong. Make no mistake, it was not easy being a bowler in this series. But, there was grip on offer in the last two games and Deepti found success when she bowled it slow - But she rarely bowled at that pace!
There is no explanation you can give when you see what her returns were in 4 out of the 5 games. Her economy was very damaging for India being the lead spinner & the entire spin attack seemed to crumble around the leader of the pack. Most of it also came down to the defensive and predictable lines that she was bowling. It eventually led to Australia finding a counter to those lines & managing to hit them for boundaries. This series saw her concede the most runs in her T20I spell (5th T20I), 2nd most runs (3rd T20I) & also the 7th most runs (4th T20I).
When we compare Deepti's economy to other spinners in this series, she ranks 5/6. However, you need to factor in Deepti's role which sees her bowl at the death as well, which is a phase that can be like a throw of dice with several possibilities.