At the stroke of midnight on Sunday, celebrations broke out across the country. From Erramalle in Andhra to Parsa village in Shimla, fireworks went off as South Africa’s Nadine de Klerk holed out the low full toss from Deepti Sharma to skipper Harmanpreet Kaur . Tears flowed freely as Deepti , the showstopper, was enveloped by her teammates.

A desire for redemption drove the 28-year-old spinner, who became the first cricketer to score a half-century (58) and claim five wickets in a World Cup match. During her 85 minutes at the crease, Deepti was a picture of composure and calmness, and each of the 57 deliveries she sent down at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai screamed purpose and intent.

Deepti is all too aware of the thin line between victory and failure. It was March 27, 2022. In the previous edition of the World Cup, in Christchurch against South Africa, Deepti was defending six runs in the final over. Her bowling card read 1, 1W, 1, 1 before Mignon du Preez holed out to Harmanpreet at long-on and began her trek back to the dugout. But Mignon returned to finish off the match off the last ball, as Deepti had overstepped by a thin margin. Earlier, in the 2017 World Cup final, India didn’t need Deepti to do anything fancy, but she did and was the penultimate batter to perish in the heartbreaking nine-run loss to England.

Now, Deepti has righted the wrong and made a statement of self-belief and perseverance. It’s something she has done since she first picked up a bat at the age of nine. Even as her brother Sumit Sharma snuck away to play cricket, Deepti, the youngest among five siblings, made her way to the ground as well. She didn’t attract much attention as the lone girl at local grounds in her hometown, Agra, since her funky hairdo helped her pass off as a boy.

But when she started playing, the taunts and jibes began. Her father, Bhagwan, was a Railways employee and her mother a teacher, and Deepti was expected to do other things than play cricket. But no words were sharp enough to pierce through Deepti’s spirit or dream. It also helped that Deepti’s parents and brothers were supportive, with Sumit even giving up his corporate job to help his sister realise her dream of playing for India.

It’s said former BCCI women’s selection committee chief Hemalatha spotted teenager Deepti at the Ekalavya Sports Stadium in Agra when, as an onlooker, she hurled a ball back into the ground. While she didn’t make the Uttar Pradesh senior team until the think tank thought she was old enough to represent the state, she used the time to hone her skills, switching from medium pace to off-spin and working on her batting. She spent four years with the Uttar Pradesh U-19 team and made her India ‘A’ debut before her UP senior team foray. She played her first match for India ‘A’ against South Africa ‘A’ at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in 2014.

In less than a year, she returned to the Bengaluru venue, earning her India cap against New Zealand in 2015. A few months later, she was on a flight to Sydney on her first overseas assignment. Since then, she has come up with some of the finest performances in Indian women’s cricket. Her 160-ball 188 against Ireland in 2017 and a 320-run opening partnership with Punam Raut in the match are complemented by her figures of 5/7 against England in the 2023 Test match.

Much before the Women’s Premier League (WPL), she had successfully tested the waters in franchise cricket by featuring in the Women’s Big Bash League and the Hundred in England. She even helped London Spirit to their maiden Hundred title last year before pulling out of her £36,000 contract to prepare for the World Cup at home.

The exposure and her ability to reinvent herself have held Deepti in good stead over the years. “It took us really long to win the World Cup, but what God has written for you happens only at the destined time, and I think it was written to take place in India,” Deepti was quoted as saying.