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Deepti Sharma rattles Sri Lanka in World Cup opener; Most wickets for India Women in ODIs

Aakash Saini

Most ODI wickets among India Women bowlers [Source: @ICC/x]Most ODI wickets among India Women bowlers [Source: @ICC/x]

Deepti Sharma devoured Sri Lanka Women with a sensational three-wicket haul in the opening match of the 2025 Women’s Cricket World Cup in Guwahati. Picking up the important wickets of Chamari Athapaththu and Kavisha Dilhari, Deepti’s three-fer helped India Women wallop tournament co-hosts by 59 runs (DLS method).

Through the course of her match-winning spell, Deepti Sharma also scaled past Neetu David to climb higher among India Women’s most successful ODI bowlers of all time. Celebrating her landmark moment, here is a look at five of the highest wicket-takers for India Women in ODIs.

5. Rajeshwari Gayakwad – 99 wickets

Indian left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad has snared 99 ODI wickets in just 64 matches at an impressive bowling average of 20.79 ever since she made her format debut back in January 2014. While she is on the verge of completing 100 ODI wickets, the 34-year-old played her last ODI match back in September 2022 during a series in England. In case she gets another crack in the national playing XI and gets a wicket, Rajeshwari Gayakwad will become only the fifth Indian Women cricketer in history to breach the 100-wicket landmark in 50-overs internationals.

4. Nooshin Al Khadeer – 100 wickets

Cricketer-turned-coach Nooshin Al Khadeer concluded her illustrious ODI career with 100 wickets in just 77 innings spanning 78 matches. The right-arm spinner maintained an average of just 24.02 with an economy rate of 3.57. Khadeer was also an integral part of the Indian Women’s team that reached the final of the 2005 Women’s Cricket World Cup in South Africa, picking up 11 wickets in just eight games to finish as the fourth-joint highest wicket-taker of the competition. She was a regular member of the Indian ODI setup in her initial years (debut of 2002), and played her last international match in March 2012 at the Wankhede Stadium before confirming her retirement.

3. Neetu David – 141 wickets

Former India spinner Neetu David was the first Indian cricketer in history to complete 100 ODI wickets, eventually concluding her career with 141 scalps in just 97 games at an average of 16.34, the best among all Team India Women bowlers with over 100 wickets by a landslide. David also held an economy rate of just 2.82, a testament to her tight lines and lengths as she often strangled opposition’s run-flow. The ICC Hall of Famer represented the nation between the years 1995 and 2008, and was the leading wicket-taker of the 2005 Women’s ODI World Cup in South Africa with 20 scalps in just eight innings.

2. Deepti Sharma – 143 wickets

Prolific Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma soared past Neetu David’s tally with a match-winning three-wicket haul against Sri Lanka Women in the opening match of the 2025 Women’s World Cup in September 2025. Her ODI tally currently stands at an illustrious 143 wickets in just 112 innings at an average of 28.19 and an economy of 4.29. Overall, Deepti has scalped over 300 international wickets for Team India across all formats, and has aggregated nearly 4,000 runs with the bat to emerge as one of India’s greatest ever all-rounders to date.

1. Jhulan Goswami – 255 wickets

Champion Indian cricketer Jhulan Goswami is the most successful bowler in Women’s ODI history by some distance. With 255 wickets in just 203 innings, Goswami leads second-placed South African speedster Shabnim Ismail by 64 wickets for the all-time record, and leads Deepti Sharma by more than 100 wickets for the Indian record. Maintaining an average of just 22.04 over her two-decade-long career, Jhulan Goswami snapped seven four-wicket hauls and two five-fers, and was part of India’s World Cup runners-up group twice, in 2005 and 2017.

The legendary fast bowler played her last international match back in September 2022, where she celebrated the occasion by picking up two wickets in India’s winning cause against England.