Why Deepti Sharma is called Ben Stokes of Indian women's cricket team? Amol Muzumdar reveals at HTLS 2025 - Watch

Deepti Sharma's 22 wickets, including a five-wicket haul in the final against South Africa, played a crucial role in India's triumphant ICC Women's World Cup 2025 campaign at home. Not just with the ball, the all-rounder's three half-centuries during crunch situations bailed the Harmanpreet Kaur's side out to en route to their successful campaign.

In the process, the experienced all-rounder, who was adjudged the Player of the Tournament, Sharma became the first player in the history of an ICC Women's World Cup to accumulate a double of 200 runs and 20 wickets in a single edition. She amassed 215 runs in total.

Head coach of the Indian women's team, Amol Muzumdar, speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit (HTLS) 2025, revealed Sharma is refereed to as ‘Stokesy’ in the dressing room, drawing parallels with the English all-rounder Ben Stokes.

“Stokes, because there are a lot of similarities, isn't it? I mean, I worked a little bit with Ben Stokes with the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. There are a few similarities with Deepti. She bats left-handed, she bowls right-handed, Stokes does that. She bats at number 6; Stokes does that. Most hard-working cricketer in the team,” Muzumdar said in response to a question from veteran sports journalist and HT columnist, Sharda Ugra.