Rohtak’s Shafali, 15, in India T20Is squad vs S Africa

Gaurav Kanthwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 5

Rohtak teen Shafali Verma has made it to the Indian women’s cricket squad for the five-match T20I series against South Africa. The 15-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman is one of the youngest cricketers ever to make it to the national women’s team. 

“I am delighted to be named in the squad. If given a chance I will play to the best of my abilities and try to win matches for my country,” she said. 

Shafali’s ability to play according to the situation and her array of attacking shots have helped her get the national selectors’ nod. On being asked whether she is intimidated by the thought of playing with cricketers much older than her, Shafali said, “Isme darna kya. One has to see the ball and not the bowler.”

Haryana Cricket Association director (coaching) Ashwani Sharma said, “She’s a big hitter, doesn’t get intimidated by bowlers. Of course, her wicketkeeping skills are also not ordinary.”

Daughter of a jeweller, Sanjiv Verma, Shafali is living her father’s dream. She took up cricket five years ago on her father’s insistence as he himself is a cricket lover. Watching Sachin Tendulkar play his last Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai against Haryana at Lahli in October 2013 fuelled her passion to play and excel in cricket.

Shafali is the second among three siblings. Her older brother and younger sister also play cricket, but it the middle one who has made a mark with her cricketing skills. A trainee of Ram Narayan Cricket Club in Rohtak, Shafali says she took to wicketkeeping as she “liked it very much”.

The Rohtak teenager will be competing with an established wicketkeeper, Taniya Bhatia, for a place in the playing XI. Shafali has played three seasons for Haryana. In the 2018-19 Inter-State Women’s T20 tournament she scored 186 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 187.87. Against Nagaland, she blazed 128 off 56 balls. Earlier this year, opening for Velocity in the Women’s T20 Challenge in Jaipur she made 34 off 31 (5 fours and 1 six).

Series

n The T20I series begins in Surat on September 24, while the ODIs kick off on October 9 in Vadodara. 

Squads

n ODI: Mithali Raj (C), Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (V-C), Punam Raut, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Mansi Joshi, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, D Hemalatha, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Priya Punia

n T20I: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (V-C), Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Poonam Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Veda Krishnamurthy, Harleen Deol, Anuja Patil, Shafali Verma, Mansi Joshi 

I am delighted to be named in the squad. If given a chance I will play to the best of my abilities and try to win matches for my country. —Shafali Verma