EXCLUSIVE: Shafali is god-gifted and a big asset for the team, says coach

Sixteen-year-old Shafali Verma has hogged the cricketing limelight with her sensational batting firepower that has left Indian cricket buffs craving for ‘Dil Maange More’. The prodigiously talented Rohtak girl has been one of the prime reasons why the Indian women’s cricket team cleared the group stage hurdle in cruise mode, getting the better of fancied sides like hosts and reigning champions Australia, New Zealand as well as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to maintain a clean slate in their march to the semifinals.

The right-handed Indian batswoman who has studied at two schools - St. Paul School and Mandeep Public School - may appear diminutive, but packs a ‘big’ punch when it comes to sending the opposition bowlers on the leather hunt. And the greatest attribute about Shafali is her fearless streak – she is ready to go after the opposition bowling from ball one and does not believe in the school of thought of getting her eye in and then playing her shots.

Shafali Verma is India’s top run-getter at the World Cup with 161 runs at an average of 40.25. (Image: Twitter)

Her penchant for hitting boundaries is well known now – she has cracked 18 fours and 9 sixes in four innings so far. Interestingly, Shafali’s strike rate of 161.00 is the only second best strike rate in the tournament behind West Indies’ Anisa Mohammed, who has a strike rate of 166.66 – the Indian opener is the third highest run-scorer of the ongoing event behind the English duo of Natalie Sciver and Heather Knight, who have accumulated 202 and 193 runs respectively.

The international T20 debut of Shafali came around only five months back when she was picked for the six-match T20 home series against South Africa – in the first tie played at Surat, the youngster was out for a duck but made amends scoring a strokeful 46 in the 4th game after the 2nd and 3rd games were abandoned due to rain.

At the Australia Tri-Nation Women’s T20 Tournament – the final tourney before the Women’s T20 World Cup, Shafali again underlined her value scoring a swashbuckling 49 in her team’s seven-wicket win over Australia. The youngster has played 18 T20 internationals so far and has managed 35-plus scores on seven occasions, which is a good augury given that she is just 16 and has so many exciting cricketing years ahead of her.

The youngster has played 18 T20 internationals so far and has managed 35-plus scores on seven occasions. (Image: Cricket.au)

“Shafali joined our academy in 2016 when she was around 12 – since she was quite small we put her in a group that comprise kids aged between 12 and 13 and within 15-20 days of joining the academy, she made swift progress and we decided to put her in the group comprising senior players like under-19, under-21 and above. She looked at ease facing the senior bowlers. She was selected for Haryana’s U 19 team in 2016, when she was just thirteen,” says Shafali’s coach and former Haryana Ranji cricketer Ashwani Kumar.

Going forward, Shafali was tasked with facing the likes of senior Haryana Ranji bowlers like Ashish Hooda and Aman Kumar among others. “Shafali was unperturbed by the prospect of facing these senior men bowlers and was confidently negotiating them, in fact, hitting them like a seasoned campaigner,” gushes Kuma.

Kumar, who played for the Haryana Ranji Trophy between 1982 and 1989 in 40 matches, believes Shafali has something special. “I would say she is god-gifted and along with that she picked on the learnings from her stint at the academy,” says her coach whose student is also remembered for the 128-ball 156 she scored for Haryana against Nagaland in the Indian Senior T20 competition, which remains the third highest score in women’s domestic T20.

Sixteen-year-old Shafali Verma has hogged the cricketing limelight with her sensational batting firepower that has left Indian cricket buffs craving for ‘Dil Maange More’. The prodigiously talented Rohtak girl has been one of the prime reasons why the Indian women’s cricket team cleared the group stage hurdle in cruise mode, getting the better of fancied sides like hosts and reigning champions Australia, New Zealand as well as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to maintain a clean slate in their march to the semifinals.

The right-handed Indian batswoman who has studied at two schools - St. Paul School and Mandeep Public School - may appear diminutive, but packs a ‘big’ punch when it comes to sending the opposition bowlers on the leather hunt. And the greatest attribute about Shafali is her fearless streak – she is ready to go after the opposition bowling from ball one and does not believe in the school of thought of getting her eye in and then playing her shots.

Shafali Verma is India’s top run-getter at the World Cup with 161 runs at an average of 40.25. (Image: Twitter)

Her penchant for hitting boundaries is well known now – she has cracked 18 fours and 9 sixes in four innings so far. Interestingly, Shafali’s strike rate of 161.00 is the only second best strike rate in the tournament behind West Indies’ Anisa Mohammed, who has a strike rate of 166.66 – the Indian opener is the third highest run-scorer of the ongoing event behind the English duo of Natalie Sciver and Heather Knight, who have accumulated 202 and 193 runs respectively.

The international T20 debut of Shafali came around only five months back when she was picked for the six-match T20 home series against South Africa – in the first tie played at Surat, the youngster was out for a duck but made amends scoring a strokeful 46 in the 4th game after the 2nd and 3rd games were abandoned due to rain.

At the Australia Tri-Nation Women’s T20 Tournament – the final tourney before the Women’s T20 World Cup, Shafali again underlined her value scoring a swashbuckling 49 in her team’s seven-wicket win over Australia. The youngster has played 18 T20 internationals so far and has managed 35-plus scores on seven occasions, which is a good augury given that she is just 16 and has so many exciting cricketing years ahead of her.

The youngster has played 18 T20 internationals so far and has managed 35-plus scores on seven occasions. (Image: Cricket.au)

“Shafali joined our academy in 2016 when she was around 12 – since she was quite small we put her in a group that comprise kids aged between 12 and 13 and within 15-20 days of joining the academy, she made swift progress and we decided to put her in the group comprising senior players like under-19, under-21 and above. She looked at ease facing the senior bowlers. She was selected for Haryana’s U 19 team in 2016, when she was just thirteen,” says Shafali’s coach and former Haryana Ranji cricketer Ashwani Kumar.

Going forward, Shafali was tasked with facing the likes of senior Haryana Ranji bowlers like Ashish Hooda and Aman Kumar among others. “Shafali was unperturbed by the prospect of facing these senior men bowlers and was confidently negotiating them, in fact, hitting them like a seasoned campaigner,” gushes Kuma.

Kumar, who played for the Haryana Ranji Trophy between 1982 and 1989 in 40 matches, believes Shafali has something special. “I would say she is god-gifted and along with that she picked on the learnings from her stint at the academy,” says her coach whose student is also remembered for the 128-ball 156 she scored for Haryana against Nagaland in the Indian Senior T20 competition, which remains the third highest score in women’s domestic T20.