Haryana women's panel to make Shafali Verma its brand ambassador

The Haryana State Commission for Women will appoint cricketer Shafali Verma as its Brand Ambassador for 2026 to promote sports, a drug-free lifestyle, gender equality and women’s empowerment, saidRenu Bhatia, Chairperson of the Commission, while taking to ‘The Tribune’ on Wednesday.

“I will soon visit Shafali’s home in Rohtak to congratulate her parents and inform them about the honour. Sports personalities like Shafali serve as powerful role models for young people. Their dedication and success instil in others the values of perseverance and teamwork,” Bhatia said.

Shafali’s brilliant all-round performance in the final helped India secure its first Women’s World Cup title. She played an aggressive innings of 87 runs and also took two crucial wickets, making a decisive impact on the match.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, accompanied by Congress MLA Bharat Bhushan Batra, today visited Shafali’s family in Rohtak to congratulate them. He described it as a moment of immense pride for Haryana and the nation.

Hooda urged the BJP-led state government to reward Shafali with a high-ranking appointment and a cash prize of at least Rs 2.5 crore.

Interacting with media on the occasion, he said during the previous Congress government, players who brought glory to India were given some of the country’s highest sports rewards and appointed to senior ranks such as Deputy Superintendent of Police. “Joginder Sharma, a Haryana player in India’s Cricket World Cup-winning team, was directly appointed DSP by the then Congress government,” Hooda pointed out.

“The Congress had introduced the “Padak Lao, Pad Pao” policy to encourage players and youth toward sports, while also keeping them away from drugs and crime. However, the BJP government has changed policies in both sports and education. The current government is focused on closing stadiums and schools built during the Congress tenure, whereas its responsibility should be to maintain them properly and build new schools and sports facilities,” Hooda added.