It’s been almost 11 months since Shafali Verma played an ODI. The swashbuckling opener had burst onto the scene four years ago at 17 and shocked the cricketing world. Shafali had time and easy power. In T20Is, no Indian women’s batter has a better six-hitting ratio than her.
Shafali Verma unable to ace ODIs
But while she cracked the T20I and even the Test code, Shafali couldn’t get the grasp of how 50-over cricket works. In October last year, she was dropped after failing to score a fifty in her last 12 innings. But given her talent, everyone knew it was around the corner. All she needed was to score runs in domestic cricket and for India A to return.
Pratika Rawal replaced her as opener and Smriti Mandhana‘s partner. After just two series, the 24-year-old had made the world forget about Shafali. Pratika scored 3 fifties and 1 hundred in her first six innings. That run hasn’t dried. She’s already outscored Shafali in the format, that too at a better average and strike rate.
| Player | Inns | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shafali Verma | 29 | 644 | 71* | 23 | 83.20 | 0 | 4 |
| Pratika Rawal | 14 | 703 | 154 | 54.07 | 87.43 | 1 | 5 |
There was no chance for Shafali to return. Pratika made sure to bolt the door after she entered. But some felt that just based on experience of playing in World Cups, the 21-year-old could have been included in India’s squad for the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup.
That opportunity actually came about when earlier this month Yastika Bhatia, India’s top-order batter and second wicketkeeper was ruled out due to an injury. To her well-wishers, this should have been the time to bring her in. Shafali had just scored a fifty against Australia A.
No opening for now
But the selectors chose Uma Chetry as Yastika’s replacement. Was this fair? According to former India captain Anjum Chopra, Chetry’s selection over Shafali makes absolute sense. Sure one would want someone with experience of playing big matches and handle pressure of the big moments but that doesn’t mean someone else has to be kicked out unjustly.
“You don’t adjust players when it comes to the Indian team. You pick people for what they can offer at that point in time. To make room for one player, you can’t tinker with the entire batting lineup,” Anjum told InsideSport.
The cricketer-turned-commentator thinks that Shafali has been given ample opportunities. The management had given her a run for 3 years before deciding to look over someone else. But one has to remember that Shafali’s just 21. Anjum thinks she’s still very much in the mix and that’s why the opener has been playing for India A.
“It’s not that they have not selected Shafali Verma; the selectors have picked someone else. Right now, someone else is doing better than her (Pratika Rawal). It’s not that Shafali has been discarded. She was not able to hold on to her position. She was given opportunities and recently played against Australia A as well. Only after that series was the team for the World Cup picked. It wasn’t like she wasn’t given a chance,” she added.
Perhaps not at the ODI World Cup but Shefali’s time will come again.
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