Today, in this article, we will be talking about one of the members of the Indian cricket squad- Shafali Verma.
The Indian women have made us all incredibly proud with their skills and drive to play for the country. In modern times, women are for sure progressing and becoming more independent. Women’s cricket is now very famous and widely followed by everyone now. Along with the guys, the population of India loves to see the girls of the country making all of us proud.
Shafali Verma is an Indian cricketer who plays for the India women’s national cricket team.
Career
Shafali Verma initially played cricket disguised as a boy during her childhood, thanks to a scarcity of girls’ cricket academies in Rohtak.
Before international cricket, Shafali Verma played for Velocity within the Women’s T20 Challenge, during which she scored 34 runs in 31 balls. In September 2019, she joined India’s Women’s Twenty20 International (WT20I) squad for their series against South Africa. She made her WT20I debut for India at the age of fifteen, against South Africa, on 24 September 2019. Today, in this article, we will be talking about one of the members of the Indian cricket squad- Shafali Verma is the youngest player to play for India during a T20I match. In November 2019, against the West Indies, she became the youngest woman athlete to score a half-century for India in international cricket.
Against the West Indies, she scored 158 runs in five matches and was named the player of the series.
In January 2020, got named in India’s squad for the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia and got the award of a central contract by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Before the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, her rank was as the most favorite batter in women’s T20I cricket.
Furthermore, in May 2021, she joined India’s Test and Women’s at some point International (WODI) squads for her series against the Britain women’s cricket team. Verma made her Test debut on 16 June 2021 for India against England, scoring 96 runs in her first Test innings. The match game ended in a draw, and Shafali received the title of player of the match after scoring 159 runs in her two innings. Furthermore, she made her WODI debut for India, against England, on 27 June 2021. Birmingham Phoenix signed her for the primary season of The Hundred.
Furthermore, Shafali Verma played for Sydney Sixers within the 2021 WBBL, where she scored her maiden fifty against Hobart Hurricanes. In January 2022, she got selected for India’s team for the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.
The Debut
With the hype surrounding her Test debut against England being very great, the young Indian opener exceeded all expectations with her trademark aggressive style of cricket.
Making her Test debut at the age of 17, the expectations were high for Shafali Verma, with everyone seeing her thirst for destruction. India found themselves on the backfoot in Bristol. England posted a whopping first innings score of 396 on the board.
Shafali Verma scored 96 in 152 deliveries, together with her knock consisting of 13 fours and two sixes.
However, she faced heartbreak, missing out on a memorable debut century by only four runs. Her wicket led to an Indian batting collapse. They only managed to post a score of 231 all out. This happened despite the openers giving them an excellent start.
Despite losing her opening partner Smriti Mandhana early, Shafali Verma continued to attack the bowlers. She scored 63 runs in just 83 deliveries, capping off a memorable debut that made everyone stay up and notice.
Statistics
The youngster has obviously had a short career till now. Spreading over all formats of the game, Shafali has appeared in a total of 41 matches. Moreover, there are a total of 1,193 runs under her belt, spread across all formats of the game. The 18-year-old has a lot of game still to play. Furthermore, the experts predict her to be one of the great batters for the team overall. It is just a matter of physical and mental development.
End Note
With the start of the ICC Women’s World Cup in New Zealand, all of India’s hopes are with the Women’s team. The team has a lot of skillful potential and the ability to perform and win. Moreover, every player on the team is ready to give their all and get the Cup home. The Indian Women’s Cricket team has always proved to be worthy of winning tournaments and trophies.
This year, will the daughters of India bring the cup home?
Or will this dream remain a dream only?
