Indian U-19 skipper Shafali Verma’s hometown of Haryana’s Rohtak erupts in joy over World Cup win

Ravinder Saini

Rohtak, January 29

A wave of happiness erupted in Rohtak, the hometown of Indian skipper Shafali Verma,as soon as India beat England in the first ever ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup Final in Potchefstroom on Sunday evening.Sweets were distributed to celebrate the victory and make this moment memorable.

Shafali’s family members, her coach and many otherswatched the final match of the World Cup on a screen speciallyinstalled at a local cricket academy where Shafali trains. The hall echoed with the sound of clapping after Soumya Tiwari hit the winning runs. Everyone started congratulating Shafali’s father Sanjeev Verma and other family members.

“We talked to Shafali yesterday about the strategy for the final match. She was quite confident about creating history by winning the World Cup and promised me to bring this coveted trophy to India. I advised her to play her natural game without any pressure. All players of team India performed well paving the way towin the title,” said the elated father.

Sanjeev Verma maintained Shafali talked to him daily over phone about the performance of India and other teams in the tournament. “I always advised her to give her hundred per cent without caring about the results. Yesterday too, I asked her to make a good score on batting first in the final match and to put all efforts to strike wickets in quick succession on bowling first so as to confine the English team to a low score. She followed it and consequently, India became the World Cup winner,” he added.

He gave the credit of Shafali’s success to her coaches and Haryana Cricket Association stating that they had played a key role in Shafali’s career.

Shafali’s mother Parveen Bala said Shafali made them proud again by winning the World Cup for the nation. “Now, we are eagerly waiting for her arrival at home to accord her a grand welcome. She will come to Rohtak in March after participating in the World Cup (Senior) scheduled in February,” she added.