Indian cricket all-rounder Deepti Sharma credited renewed self-belief and small technical adjustments to her bowling for breaking out of a prolonged lean patch, after producing a match-winning performance against South Africa in the fourth T20I.

Deepti had struggled for form since the T20I series in Australia in February, managing only one double-digit score in nine matches across formats before bouncing back with an unbeaten 36 and a five-wicket haul in India’s 14-run win on Saturday. The performance came at a crucial time, with selection discussions for the T20 World Cup in England and Wales in June intensifying.

Although India had already secured the series 3-1 with one match remaining, Deepti — a key figure in India’s ODI World Cup triumph — said her confidence never wavered during the slump and helped her regain form.

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“First, I always keep believing in myself, and second is line and length — where I need to bowl. Today I focused more on my off-spin rather than trying the quicker ball,” said the spin-bowling all-rounder. She added that conditions were tricky due to dew, requiring constant communication within the bowling unit to adjust plans effectively.  “Yes, there was a bit of dew, so we spoke among ourselves as bowlers. Just stick to the right areas and you get results,” Deepti said, noting she had gone wicketless in the previous three T20Is at the same venue.

On the batting front, Deepti said she and Richa Ghosh had planned to build a long partnership and bat deep, which resulted in an unbeaten 65-run stand helping India reach 185 for 5. “I think Richa batted really well and finished strongly. We planned to stay till the 20th over and build a partnership. We kept calculating each over and that worked for us,” she said.

Deepti then backed it up with a strong bowling display as India restricted South Africa to 171 for 9 in the chase. Despite the series loss, she said the team would take several positives into the T20 World Cup.  “There are a lot of positives from this series. Today’s win gives us confidence going forward. As a team — both batting and bowling units — we must keep this belief,” she said. “We will look to finish the series well in the final game and carry this momentum forward,” Deepti concluded.