More than the 100, I was thinking of building partnership with Harmanpreet: Deepti

She is glad to have finally ended a nine-year wait for her second ODI hundred, but Indian women's cricket team all-rounder Deepti Sharma says the bigger accomplishment for her is the match-winning partnership that she built with former captain Harmanpreet Kaur in the second game against Zimbabwe in Vadodara.

Deepti's maiden ODI hundred came in May 2017, against South Africa, which was an epic 188 off 160 balls. On Sunday (October 25, 2026), she celebrated her second century in the format with an unbeaten 106 off 86 balls in the series-clinching 121-run win over Zimbabwe.

"I believed in my hard work that I would get it sooner or later. And I think more than the 100, what was on my mind was how we can build a partnership in that situation. So that was it," the 29-year-old Deepti said in the post-match press conference.

"Because we lost early wickets after Pratika (Rawal) and Harry di's (Harmanpreet Kaur) partnership. That was the mindset and obviously the 100 is special. And it's been a long time since I came here (Vadodara), so it feels good," she added.

Harmanpreet's second coming as a pure batter has been nothing short of brilliant. She struck 126 off 121 balls laced with 15 well-timed boundaries that also earned her the player of the match honour.

She had an able companion in Deepti, who remained unbeaten with 15 hits to the fence. The two seasoned players shared a 153-run stand.

"She (Harmanpreet) was looking very relaxed and composed. She was playing on merit. And she was looking very good at that time. And when I went in, I thought that we have to build a partnership," Deepti said.

"...whatever balls were coming in my radar, I was trying to convert them into a boundary," she added.

Refusing to call Zimbabwe a relatively weak opposition, Deepti said credit should instead go to her team's bowlers for restricting the visitors consistently.

"...I think all the bowlers did a good job. In fact, the whole team gave a good performance," she said.

A devotee of Lord Hanuman, Deepti said her faith has been crucial in keeping her grounded as well as calm even when things don't seem to be going her way.

"The more you think, the more you can't work. So, whenever I go to the pitch, I play according to the situation. When I went to bat, I didn't think about 100 or 50. I just wanted to play till the last ball and take the team to a good total. This was my mindset," she said about Sunday's (October 25, 2026) match.

"The biggest thing is that I have a lot of faith in God. I have a lot of faith in Lord Hanuman. What can be a bigger blessing than that for me? And whatever you do in the practice session every day, it definitely helps you in the match. So, this is my mindset," she added.

The last match of the series will be played in Vadodara on October 28.