Shefali Verma makes a bold statement regarding the shift in mindset ahead of the T 20 World Cup

Ever since she made her debut for the country at the age of 15 in 2019, Shafali Verma has been on a meteoric rise in the Indian team which has been pleasing to watch. The roar of motorsports is difficult to ignore for someone like Shafali Verma, who hails from Rohtak. She has always astonished the viewers with her destructive innings, different from other women batters in India, through her raw strength and aggressive big hitting.

Come 2021, Shafali also became the youngest cricketer from India in both males and females to have played all three forms of international cricket. But then again, because this is elite level cricket there are these interludes, in which certain cracks in her batting have been exposed. Coupled with a period where her batting numbers oscillated between good and bad, Shafali was beaten by bowlers using accurate short balls which left no room for her.

Today, five years later, about to attend her third T20 World Cup, Shafali reveals what has been different ever since she went on to play in the 2020 World Cup and destroy the tournament with her rhythmical batting. “In 2020, I used to hit on every ball and then it hit me at the beginning. But then, after some time, there is video analysis commencing on your style of play and they begin to look at your entire strategy.”

“Little by little, they begin to comprehend what abilities and what limitations do Shafali possess. I was not so successful in 2023, but there were a lot of things which I learnt because I faced temporary failures and comprehended the role of mentality in cricket over the last three-four years. Hence, whatever I understood in those periods, I am executing all those teachings in 2024.

“Mentally I have undergone a lot of changes because in the beginning, the attitude was to go out and try to hit every ball. But now I believe I can let one-two balls pass and then execute my shots. When your game plan gets better mentally, then your consistency increases,” explains Shafali in an interview with IANS earlier this month during the photoshoot of the clothing brand QUA in New Delhi.

Shafali made her maiden overseas experience in cricket when she participated in the 2020 Women’s T20 Challenge in the UAE, with her team Velocity not making it past the stage. As slow pitches were predicted in the UAE, Shafali put the emphasis on the need for quick adapting abilities as being the redeeming factor in success with the bat, and combined it with calmness waiting for one extra second to play in Dubai and Sharjah.

Also, she likes to bowl and hopes to get a few overs in off-spin bowling during India’s matches in the tournament. There is no ambiguity in the fact that the Women’s T20 Challenge thrust Shafali to the limelight of the national stage and the expansion of the three team competition into the Women’s Premier League (WPL) has seen a lot more local women cricketers face off against international players, with Shreyanka Patil, Sajana Sajeevan and Asha Sobhana’s inclusion to the T20 World Cup

For Shafali, the most inspiring has been the opportunity to opening the batting and being coached by Meg Lanning, the captain of five time world cup winning team Australia, at the Delhi Capitals. “The foreign players teach us a lot of things like how calm Meg is. I have gained a lot from her during these first two periods, and I am actually looking forward to returning back to her for the third period”.

Shafali has not participated in WBBL or The Hundred since 2021 as she wishes to focus more on her fitness and state of mind, as competing in foreign leagues enlightened her on the significance of fitness in ensuring career longevity.

It is quite common knowledge in the cricketing fraternity that Shafali is one of those few girls who can on her day destroy the best of the bowling attacks with their raw strength and this generation has indeed compared her to one such person i.e. Virender Sehwag. One such instance being her breath-taking 205 off just 197 balls in the Chennai Test against South Africa in the month of June where she also claims the record of fastest double-century in women’s Tests.

There is no difference between Sehwag and Shafali since they both scored their respective first Test centuries against the same countries (South Africa) while hitting a four. Thanks to chance, they both happen to hold the record of the fastest double century by an Indian with the one in Test cricket – 194 balls sustained

For someone like Sehwag, whom Shafali fancied even more than Sachin Tendulkar when growing up, the comparison is a big deal. “Sehwag taught me a lot, for example he would hit the ball from the first delivery, that was very audacious. I sometimes watch some of his batting clips, and I remembered during my batting, when I got my 200, I was very delighted and teary because I had played for so many years, and this time round, had not been able to score a hundred for India.”