Shafali Verma
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
Career
2013- 2020 Feb
Avijit Ghosh, March 1, 2020: The Times of India
From: Avijit Ghosh, March 1, 2020: The Times of India
Sanjeev Verma recounts the story with relish. Back in 2013, Sachin Tendulkar came to Rohtak to play his last Ranji Trophy match against Haryana. “The rush for free passes even triggered a lathicharge. But I managed to get three for Shafali, her elder brother Sahil and me,” her father recalls.
The Lahli stadium, about 10 kilometres from the town, teemed with fans. “We saw much of the game standing in the back row. I took Shafali closer to the pavilion so that she could see Sachin. When he came out to bat, the crowd started chanting, “Sachin, Sachin”. They cheered every run he scored. Shafali saw the way he batted, the crowd’s response. After that game, she told me, I don’t want to play with a tennis ball anymore; I want to play leather ball cricket.”
Six years on, Shafali is a crowdpleaser in her own right like her cricketing idol. She has been India’s fire-starter and lifesaver. With a Sehwag-like nonchalance and a Gaylelike penchant for sixes, the fearless 16-year-old opener from Rohtak has pilloried the world’s best in the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup. When former England captain Nasser Hussain described her as “a wow player”, he was echoing most cricket lovers’ thoughts.
A dot-ball hater, Shafali’s tournament strike rate is a jaw-dropping 161: no batter with a minimum 50 runs even comes close. India has struck 12 sixes in four games, Haryana’s latest sporting prodigy alone has hit nine — the highest in the championship.
Luck too has been her ally. Shafali earned her second consecutive player of the match award after firing 46 off 34 against New Zealand gorging on two lives. Her father doesn’t mind. “Hum keh rahe thhey ki hamari ladki ke catch drop nahin hote. Parmatma ne hamari sun li. (I was complaining that my daughter’s catches are never dropped. The Almighty heard me),” says Sanjeev. The lucky streak continued on Saturday when the teenager again profited from two lives to pummel 47 off 34 against Sri Lanka.
Shafali comes from a family of cricket-loving goldsmiths. In the early 1990s, Sanjeev, his brothers and other relatives got together to cobble up their own team, Verma Cricket Club. “I opened the bowling and batted in the top order. But those were different times and I couldn’t make headway,” he says. When his kids started growing up, a part of Sanjeev’s sitting room-cumworkplace was converted into a makeshift arena for tennis ball cricket. Later, when they played near Gandhi Ashram, Sanjeev noticed that Shafali’s shots travelled as far as her brother’s, a year and a half older than her. With hardly any girls in her age-group playing cricket, Shafali played with the boys. “Some would refuse. They would say, lag jayegi (she would get hurt). Then Shafali suggested cutting her hair short. Papa, unko pata nahin chalega (They won’t know),” Sanjeev recalls her telling him.
In 2016, Sanjeev was swindled of Rs 7.5 lakh and his wife’s jewellery by a con promising him a job. “For the next five-six months, I had no idea what I was going to do. During this period, Shafali’s gloves were torn, her bat broke. But she continued to play. She would hide her pair of gloves in the kitbag. I still have them,” he says.
Recovery would take time. But determined to ensure the best for Shafali, Sanjeev borrowed money and took her to Shri Ram Narain Cricket Club, a cutting-edge facility on the edge of the town. Within a year, she was playing in the club’s elite group facing Ranji bowlers such as Ashish Hooda and Ajit Chahal, both 130+ kph pacers. “Shafali has been hit on the thigh, stomach and helmet. But she was always unafraid and unfazed,” says coach Sanjay Budhwar, a left-arm seamer with 95 first-class wickets. Recalls another coach Sant Kumar, “She hits the ball so hard that we are wary of standing at the umpire’s spot for coaching.”
Her journey to the Indian team was like her shots: rapid and breathtaking. Late last year, when she was 15 years and 285 days old, Shafali broke the record for the youngest Indian cricketer to post a 50 in international cricket. She smashed 73 off 49 against West Indies to shatter the 30-year-old record of her inspiration, Tendulkar. When Shafali Instagramed a picture with her idol this year, she wrote, “The reason I took up this game was because of Sachin sir…”. The wheel had turned full circle. And this is simply the beginning.
2019
Scores 50+ at age 15 years, 285 days
Pratyush Raj, Nov 11, 2019: The Times of India
Who knew that Sachin Tendulkar’s final domestic match would become the setting of a most unlikely passing of a baton. In the crowd, seated on her father’s shoulders at the Bansi Lal Stadium in the cricketing outpost of Lahli in Haryana, was a nine-year-old chanting the hero’s name. ‘Sachiiin, Sachin!’ That was 2013. Six years later, it was coming full circle. The same girl Shafali Verma, now at 15 years and 285 days, shattered her idol’s 30-year-old record when she became the youngest Indian to score an international fifty in the first T20 International against the West Indies in St Lucia.
Tendulkar was 16 years and 214 days when he notched up his maiden half-century (59, versus Pak in the second Test at Faisalabad on Nov 23, 1989). At 15 years and 267 days, UAE’s Kavisha Egodage is the youngest woman to score an international 50 (57* against Malayasia in Jan 2019).
Such was the brilliance of Shafali’s batting, it moved coach WV Raman to urge people to catch it on YouTube. “Folks, make it a point to watch Shefali Verma’s innings in the first T20 on you tube.. You will not regret the time spent,” tweeted the former Indian Test opener.
Shafali and seasoned opener Smriti Mandhana stitched an unbeaten 143-run opening partnership to set the tone for India’s 84-run victory.
The 15-year-old from Rohtak has had an extraordinary journey. In October this year, TOI first wrote about how she had to be enrolled in the guise of a boy after being refused admission in the city’s cricket academies since she was a girl. TOI had also highlighted how the teenaged sensation made her mark in only her second outing for India, smashing a brilliant 46 off just 33 balls against South Africa, last month.
Meanwhile, Rohtak was lapping up the adulation. Ashwani Kumar, Shafali’s coach for the past four years, remembered how she would prove a handful for the state’s U-19 boys. “She was just nine when she came to our Ram Narain Academy .and the girls were no match for her. So, I started playing her with the U-19 boys. She used to take the U-19 bowlers to the cleaners,” said the former Haryana opener and state team ex-coach.
On her impact as a power-hitter, Kumar, pointed out: “I know everyone is quite shocked with her fearless approach. Four years ago, I was also stunned when I first saw her batting. She is a bottom-handed batswoman and relies on the punch shots.
“If you saw the match, you noticed she milking ones and twos and was rotating the strike. At such a tender age she doesn’t feel the nerve, she was calm and calculated. She is a natural talent, just like Sachin was,” he said, “She has only played just 5 T20s so far but I can assure you she will excel in all forms of the game. Mark my words, this is just the beginning.”
With the women’s T20 World Cup to be held in Australia in Feb-March next year, Shafali’s power-hitting at the top along with Smriti’s experience will definitely be a treat for the fans.
2021
Youngest Indian to debut in all formats
Gaurav Gupta, June 28, 2021: The Times of India
At 17 years and 150 days, Shafali Verma on Sunday became the youngest Indian cricketer to make her debut in all the three formats of the game as India went down by eight wickets to England in the first women’s ODI at the Bristol County Ground.
The teenaged sensation made her T20I debut in September 2019, at the age of 15 years and 239 days and played her first Test 11 days ago against England. She is the fifth youngest cricketer to make her debut in all three formats of the game, with Afghanistan’s Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who made his debut at 17 years and 78 days, heading the list. She’s also the third youngest among women cricketers. Shafali was handed her cap by ODI captain Mithali Raj before the match.
The prodigious talent endured a rather tame beginning to her ODI career. The Rohtak girl scored a 14-ball 15, including three fours.
Once again, the youngster succumbed to her tendency of going after the bowling. In the sixth over, she made room to a rising delivery from Katherine Brunt, but ended up miscuing her shot, only for the ball to be pouched easily by Anya Shrubsole at mid-on. Mithali laboured to 108-ball 72 as India could post 201/8.
