Shafali Verma grabs World Cup lifeline with both hands

From going out-of-favour to being named as a last-minute replacement for a home World Cup, Shafali Verma’s journey has been a fairytale return to where she belonged. 

The 21-year-old probably would have been watching her team-mates in action in a potentially era-defining World Cup final at her home in Haryana, let alone playing it after being left out of the squad due to the inconsistent returns in the 50-over format.

However, having been handed an opportunity as an injury replacement to open the batting with Smriti Mandhana, Shafali justified the faith the selectors and the team management had reposed in her, with a brisk 87 off 78 deliveries, lacing it with seven fours and two sixes against South Africa at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday, not allowing the pressure to get to her after being dismissed cheaply against Australia in the semifinal for just 10. 

She further proved her credentials as an all-rounder as the right-arm off-break bowler delivered a 2-36 spell while taking the big wickets of Marizanne Kapp and Sune Luus. Both wickets came at a time when South Africa were rebuilding their chase. 

After receiving a late call-up to the touring party after Pratika Rawal was ruled out, having suffered a hairline fracture on her ankle in India’s final league game against Bangladesh, Shafali was summoned to Mumbai from Surat while in the middle of a National Women’s T20 event where she was captaining Haryana. 

“What happened with Pratika, as a sportsperson, it wasn’t a good thing. No one wants any sportsperson to sustain such an injury. But God has sent me here to do something good,” Shafali said after joining the squad ahead of the semifinal. 

Shafali came into the tournament on the back of a string of good scores against Australia A and then had followed it up with a 70 against New Zealand at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru in a warm-up game. In her last appearance for Haryana, she scored 55 in just 24 balls.

While the ODI numbers do not have a pretty viewing -- 644 runs in 29 games, averaging 23 -- the 21-year-old made sure she grabbed her World Cup lifeline with both hands to help India eventually to their maiden World Cup title.