Deepti Sharma becomes all-time leading wicket-taker in women's T20Is

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: India’s spin-bowling all-rounder Deepti Sharma scripted history on Tuesday by becoming the highest all-time wicket-taker in women’s T20Is, capping off a dominant series for the hosts against Sri Lanka.

Deepti reached the landmark during the fifth and final T20I in Thiruvananthapuram, where her dismissal of Nilakshika Silva took her tally to 152 wickets in the format.

The milestone came as India sealed a 15-run victory to complete a comprehensive 5-0 clean sweep of the series.

With the breakthrough, Deepti overtook Australia pacer Megan Schutt, who previously held the record with 151 wickets. Pakistan’s Nida Dar now sits third on the list with 144 scalps.

Player	Team	Matches	Wickets	Avg	BBI
Deepti Sharma	India	133	152	19.0	4/10
Meghan Shutt	Australia	123	151	17.7	5/15
Nida Dar	Pakistan	160	144	20.2	5/21
Henriette Ishimwe	Rwanda	117	144	10.3	5/6
Sophie Ecclestone	England	101	142	15.7	4/18

The 28-year-old achieved the feat in 133 matches since making her T20I debut in 2016, further underlining her consistency and longevity at the highest level.

Beyond the headline record, Deepti Sharma also became the first cricketer, male or female, in history to score more than 1,000 runs and claim 150 or more wickets in T20 Internationals.

She is also the first woman to take 150-plus wickets in both ODIs and T20Is.

Notably, Sharma has 334 wickets across international cricket, 20 in Tests, 162 in ODIs and 152 in T20Is.

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She is closing in on legendary fast bowler Jhulan Goswami, who leads the all-time women’s international wicket charts with 355. England great Katherine Sciver-Brunt is just ahead of Deepti with 335 wickets.

Among players from Full Member nations, only 12 women have taken 25 or more T20I wickets in a single year, and Deepti is the only one to have achieved that feat twice, in 2022 and 2024.

She also stands alone among the seven women to claim 50 or more international wickets in a calendar year, having done so in three separate years, 2022, 2024 and 2025.

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