Heartbreak for Shafali Verma!! BCCI finally reveals reason behind her axing from World Cup 2025 squad

The 21-year-old India Women's National Cricket Team explosive batter, Shafali Verma, has been axed from the squad for the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025.

On Tuesday, August 19, BCCI announced India's squad for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, and Shafali Verma's name was nowhere to be found.

She is a part of the system - Neetu David

Shafali was regarded as the next big thing in Indian cricket, and she emerged as a breath of fresh air in the ecosystem of Indian women's cricket as she was a naturally aggressive batter.

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The batter started off brilliantly in international cricket, but after going through a lean patch for an extended period of time, she was dropped by the BCCI selection committee.

Shafali Verma made her comeback to the team during the recent series against England and returned with scores of 3, 47, 31, and 75. Overall, Shafali Verma has scored 644 runs at an average of 23 and a strike rate of 83.2.

Speaking about the snub of Shafali Verma, the BCCI chairperson of the selection committee, Neetu David, said that the young batter is still in the scheme of things.

"She is playing for India A in Australia. She is a part of the system. We are keeping an eye out for her. The more she plays, the more experience she will gain for the future," Chief selector David said.

We just want Shafali Verma to keep playing and gain some experience - Neetu David

Neetu David further said that they have picked the best possible players for the World Cup 2025 and want Shafali Verma to continue gaining more experience by playing India A games.

"Our team did well in England. We have been working on this squad for a long time now. I think the team we have picked is the best, so we don't want to play around with the team ahead of the World Cup. We just want Shafali to keep playing and gain some experience."

Notably, Shafali has registered scores of 3, 3, 41, 36, 4, and 52 against Australia A.

Also Read: Revealed: Why Rishabh Pant has been snubbed from India’s Asia Cup 2025 squad?

Personally, this tournament is very important for me - Harmanpreet Kaur

Meanwhile, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who will lead the side for the very first time in an ICC Women's Cricket World Cup, said that she is very excited for the challenge. She said:

“Personally, this tournament is very important for me. This is a home World Cup. Home World Cups are special for every player. I have a lot of experience batting at No.4, I am just looking to contribute to the team. We are really excited for the World Cup. We are having training camps. We are preparing ourselves mentally and physically.”

India have never won a Women's World Cup, but ended up as runners-up in 2005 and 2017. This time around, under Harmanpreet Kaur's leadership, the Women In Blue will look to finally get their hands on the title.

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