Shafali Verma: From Playing In Boys Team To Leading India's Women World Cup Win

Shafali Verma played a big role in India's first-ever ICC Women’s World Cup victory. In the title clash, she scored 87 runs off 78 balls in the final against South Africa at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, the highest score by an Indian in a Women’s World Cup final, breaking Punam Raut’s previous best of 86 from 2017. Her strong start helped India post a total of 298/7 in the final.

Shafali was not even part of the original squad for the tournament. She was called in as a replacement before the semifinals after Pratika Rawal was ruled out due to an ankle injury.

Shafali grabbed the opportunity and made the most of it. In the final, apart from her crucial knock, she also picked up two important wickets, giving India breakthroughs at the right moments.

Her all-around performance earned her the Player of the Match award as India beat South Africa by 52 runs to lift the trophy.

Shafali Verma: No Newbie To Breaking Records

Shafali Verma first picked up the bat when she was 8, and she never looked back. The 21-year-old, who was inspired by her father to take up cricket, even disguised herself as a boy in her early days because her hometown, Rohtak, did not have a girls' team.

She was nine when she went to witness Sachin Tendulkar play his final Ranji Trophy match with her father in 2013. The experience motivated the young girl to such an extent that she vowed to work hard to earn her spot in the Indian cricket team. 

On September 24, 2019, at the age of 15, she made her international debut, becoming the youngest woman to play for India in a T20 international match.

For the unversed, Shafali once played in an all-boys cricket championship by taking her brother’s spot on the team. She not only played, but she also outscored the boys and won the Player of the Tournament award.

While the boys originally hesitated to play cricket with Shafali, fearing she might get hurt, she decided to chop her hair and began playing matches dressed as a boy until the players realised her potential.

Throughout the first three years of her cricket career, she was trained by her father, Sanjeev Verma. He introduced her to the local fields for practice and gave her ₹5 for each six she struck. Shafali's father, too, aspired to be a cricketer at an early age but was unable to do so owing to a lack of opportunity and support.

Shafali shared, "I automatically smile when I think of playing in my childhood backyard. So now, every time I feel pressure, I smile and instantly feel more confident," she recalled in a 2024 interview with SheThePeople.

She joined the Ram Narayan Cricket Club in Rohtak in 2016 and began training with the "female cricketers", but her coach chose to elevate her to the Elite Group, where she began working with the U-19, U-23, and Ranji Trophy players. In 2018, she was made the captain of the Haryana Women's Under-19 Cricket team.

Verma was 15 when she received her first call-up to India's Women's Twenty20 International (WT201) team for their series against South Africa, citing her ferocious hitting and remarkable talents. She broke a 30-year-old record set by her idol, Sachin Tendulkar, just a few weeks after making her debut.

She became India's youngest player to hit a fifty when she scored 73 runs off 49 balls versus the West Indies in a T20 competition. She is also the youngest player in T20 International history to attain 1000 runs on October 8, 2022.

Shafali’s Message to Young Girls

Today, Shafali is a role model for thousands of young girls who want to make a name for themselves, not only in cricket but in any field. When asked for advice for young women who want to take up sports or anything that people call “impossible,”

Shafali told STP, “I think I would just say, keep working hard and be true to yourself. Whatever you are doing, if you focus on these two things, I believe you will obviously become successful.”

Shafali often shares that there are no shortcuts. She believes hard work, staying grounded, and improving with every game are the keys to success.

Views expressed by the author are their own.