'We had warned her repeatedly': Deepti Sharma's explosive revelation about 'controversial' run-out

All-rounder Deepti Sharma, for the first time, has opened up on the controversial run-out of Charlotte Dean during the third ODI between India Women and England Women at Lord's on Saturday, revealing that she took off the bails at the non-striker's end only after issuing several warnings to the opposition. With ENG-W needing 17 runs to win after their last-wicket pair of Dean and Freya Davies had put on 35 crucial runs, Deepti stopped in her bowling stride and upon noticing that Dean was outside her crease, whipped the bails off.

The incident snowballed in no time with several experts and former cricketers from England questioning India for the whole 'Spirit of Cricket' debate, even though it was pretty much within the laws. Many felt that the Indian team should have issued a warning, which has now been confirmed via Deepti's big revelation.

"It was historic for sure. For the first time, we defeated England in their own country and won the series 3-0. That was our plan because she was repeatedly doing it and we had warned them too. We had also informed the umpires. But still, she was right there so there wasn't much we could do. We did everything according to the rules and guidelines," Deepti told the media upon the team's arrival in India.

The historic series, which was billed as Indian veteran Jhulan Goswami's swansong, was overshadowed by what many called the 'Mankad' act. Earlier this year, the MCC had tweaked the laws, after which this mode of dismissal was re-termed as 'run-out'. Still, hue and cry ensued about all that transpired; however, with the MCC reacted to the episode, stating that "MCC's message to non-strikers continues to be to remain in their ground until they have seen the ball leaves the bowler's hand. Then dismissals, such as the one seen yesterday, cannot happen," it should put an end to the debate.

Moving away from the run-out, Deepti paid a fitting tribute to Goswami, saying that everyone in the team will miss the legendary cricketer and that the flow of emotions was inevitable. There were plenty during the Lord's ODI, including saw Harmanpreet and the entire team hugging Goswami after she completed her spell of 2/30, with some even having tears rolling down their cheeks.

"See, every team wants to win and we wanted to win the last game to give Jhulan di a memorable farewell. Whatever we could, we put in that effort. I'm sure it was an emotional moment for each and every player so you can't prevent it. It happened in and outside the ground. Definitely, we are going to miss her on the field. Her dedication was admiration for all of us and we will try and learn from her teachings," mentioned Deepti.