A throw that changed her life: Deepti Sharma shares childhood story that pushed her to cricket

At the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2025 on 6 December, Amol Muzumdar was asked why he calls Deepti Sharma ‘Stokesy’. The Team India (Women) Head Coach named her after the England captain Ben Stokes.

According to Muzumdar, there are several similarities between Ben Stokes and Deepti Sharma. Deepti reminds Amol Muzumdar of Stokes because both bat left-handed and bowl right-handed, usually play at number six and show tireless commitment.

Deepti Sharma never misses a match and works as hard as Stokes does. Muzumdar then praised her powerful throw.

“Above all, I think her throw resembles Ben Stokes’. The throw is the most important. If you blink, you'll know it. You'll wear it,” he said while describing the power behind it.

Deepti Sharma, however, revealed that she had not yet met Ben Stokes. She was then asked to share a slice-of-life story about herself. She was 9 when her powerful throw changed everything.

She went to watch her brother play a match and was sitting on the stairs. A player passed the ball towards her. She casually threw it back. Her throw hit the stump directly, which surprised everyone watching.

People around her immediately told her brother that she should start playing cricket. According to them, she had a natural talent and would one day make the country proud. That single throw changed her life and inspired her to take the sport seriously.

Deepti was asked if she had trained to build more strength for such throws.

“I think I can say that it is natural. I mean, when the journey started with this, I can say it is natural. Plus, I also work on my strength. So, I think it has also developed a lot,” Sharma said.

“Honestly, right now, it feels like we’ve finally done something. The moment we had been waiting for so long has actually arrived. There are events happening here and there, so we’re extremely busy, but it feels great,” Deepti Sharma said about India’s World Cup win under Harmanpreet Kaur's leadership.

“There’s a real sense of pride. When a dream you’ve held for years actually comes true, you feel it deeply. And, it feels wonderful when you go into your society and people recognise you by your name. Like you just said, that recognition feels really good. It makes you feel very proud.