AGRA: She was just eight when she uprooted the stumps from a distance of more than 50 metres with her throw and astonished the current chairperson of Indian women's cricket selection committee Hemlata Kala, says Sumit Sharma, elder brother and trainer of Deepti Sharma , an all-rounder of Indian women's team who is three times world record holder for highest number of runs and wickets in ODIs.Former cricketer Sumit who currently runs a cricket academy spoke to TOI about the dream chase of Deepti and his contribution in it. "She is a hard worker and never gives up. For nearly a decade, we both have worked hard to achieve what we have now. We use to practice 8 to 9 hours a day. I gave up cricket and my career to help my sister grow in the game. This World Cup will be the biggest gift for brothers like me on this Raksha Bandhan if Deepti and her team win it," said Sumit.Deepti Sharma (L) and brother Sumit Sharma.Narrating their journey Sumit said, "Around 2005-06 when I used to practice in Eklavya stadium (Agra), Deepti accompanied me and watch players practising in the nets from audience stand. One day when former cricketer Hemlata Kala hit a ball in the stand and asked Deepti to throw towards her, she knocked the bails off the stump, stunning the veteran international player. That day, Hemlata called me and said, I don't know whether you will play for Indian team or not, but I guarantee, your sister will be playing for the team.""Since then, we both started practising together. But in 2010 when Deepti started playing for UP under 19 team, I went for MBA studies and later joined a company in Ghaziabad. During this period, Deepti lost her edge and her performance went down. So after doing a job for eight months, I resigned from the company and persuaded my family especially parents to let me work on Deepti's game and improve her performance. We both worked hard for the next two years and later she was selected in the Indian team," he said.In their endeavour, former test and ODI international cricketer Rita Dey and Deepti's coach Vipin Awasthi also helped the duo to achieve the goal.Recently, Sumit's selfless effort and hardwork for his younger sister, was also acknowledged by master blaster and former cricketer Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. In his tweet Sachin said, "Deepti Sharma's journey on the road to cricket greatness began early. Her brother's support helped her achieve her goal."The left-hand batsman and right-arm offbreak bowler is the youngest in the team of "Women in Blue", who are now in the finals and will face England at Lord's.Earlier, in May the 19-year-old Deepti Sharma and Poonam Raut became the first-ever pair to share a 300-run stand in an ODI. The duo shared a 320-run stand as India women finished with 358 for three in 50 overs against Ireland women at Potchefstroom during the quadrangular series in South Africa. In the same match, Deepti became second highest individual scorer in ODI with 188 runs.She also holds world the record of six wickets in 9.2 overs, conceding only 20 runs against Srilanka in February 2016 at ODI match in Ranchi.In 2010, at the age of 12, she scored 114 runs against Vidarbha team, while playing for UP team.

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